LONDON (AP) — London Marathon organizers say they are “very concerned” by claims in a British Sunday newspaper that the race was won by athletes who recorded suspicious blood scores seven times in 12 years.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that almost 30 percent of winners in the 24 men’s and women’s London races are suspected of cheating. It also says that one in four winners of the six biggest city marathons around the world “had given blood tests that suggest they may have doped to improve their performance over time.” The suspected athletes were not named.
In a statement Sunday, London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel said organizers are “determined to make marathon running a safe haven from doping but we cannot do it all on our own.”
He added that the London Marathon pays for the testing of athletes but does not administer the tests. This is done by the UK Anti Doping Agency, Bitel said.
The statement also said organizers would seek repayment of prize money from athletes who fail doping tests.
Athletics was thrown into turmoil last week when German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper alleged that blood doping was rampant, citing test results from an International Association of Athletics Federations database that were leaked by a whistleblower.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has since set up a commission to investigate the allegation that IAAF files showed 800 suspicious results in blood samples from 5,000 athletes in the years from 2001-12.
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