London Marathon organisers angered over doping allegations

In response to The Sunday Occasions, the winners of 34 huge marathons the world over, who collected greater than three million kilos (CDN$6.1 million) in prize cash, registered suspicious outcomes suggesting potential blood doping.

The suspected athletes weren’t named.

Nick Bitel said the global Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had failed to take effective action despite holding details of suspicious blood scores of athletes that indicated they could have taken drugs.

He added that the London Marathon pays for the testing of athletes but does not administer the tests. In a statement issued earlier this week, it said it was “aware of serious allegations made against the integrity and competence of its anti-doping programme”.

‘We’ve agreed with the IAAF that we are going to instigate the largest ever anti-doping scheme which will involve hundreds of out-of-competition tests for athletes across the world, ‘ said Bitel.

The IAAF, which has defended its drugs testing procedures strongly and refutes suggestions it has turned a blind eye to doping, says it is cooperating with the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in an investigation into the allegations.

The leaked database obtained by the Sunday Times contains more than 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes.

Since last weekend’s revelations by The Sunday Times newspaper and German broadcaster ARD, track and field’s governing body has been working overtime to fix an image sullied by leaked data connected with thousands of anti-doping tests between 2001-12.

Earlier this week, several IAAF athletes who are due to compete in the World Championships this August in Beijing, were cleared of doping allegations, among them Olympic champions Usain Bolt of Jamaica and the UK’s Mo Farah, who shone at the 2012 Olympics in London.

“The decision to release my results is a personal one”, Farah said in the Sunday Times, as relayed by Sky Sports.

Shobukhova finished first and second, respectively, in the 2010 and 2011 London Marathons.

In a statement, he said: “We believe there are people in our sport who are cheating and everyone has a part to play to protect those who are not”.

A total of 20 of Farah’s blood test results, taken between June 2005 and May 2012, all fell within the normal range.

Also, it might mean that any athlete not publishing their data is somehow guilty by omission.

“We have a strategic objective in relation to global influence and anti-doping policy and behaviour”, Sapstead said.

“We’re subsequently very involved by the allegations made within the Sunday Occasions at present and we can be discussing the implications of the allegations with the IAAF”. Shobukhova’s two-year suspension by the Russian athletics federation was to finish in January, however the IAAF appealed to the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport, citing “aggravating circumstances”.

On Thursday the IAAF announced that all her results since 2009 had been annulled, and the two-year ban imposed last year extended by 14 months.

“The IAAF has historically been at the forefront of all important developments in the fight against doping and has always taken its responsibilities seriously when it comes to catching cheats and protecting the integrity of its sport”.