Refused sample could haunt sprinter Magakwe

14 April 2015 - 14:43 By David Isaacson

Simon Magakwe‚ the only South African sprinter to have run the 100m in under 10 seconds‚ has been caught in a doping storm. “There is an issue between the IAAF [the world governing body for athletics] and Simon‚ and it is still under way and we don’t know the outcome‚” Athletics SA (ASA) president Aleck Skhosana confirmed on Monday night.“It does involve an out-of-competition test. The process is not finalised‚” he added.An official close to the case‚ who spoke on condition of anonymity‚ claimed that Magakwe had refused to give a urine sample when approached by testers some months ago.But Skhosana declined to confirm if Magakwe had already been banned for that indiscretion. Anti-doping regulations allow athletes to miss two tests in 12 months‚ but refusing to submit a sample is treated as a doping offence.Magakwe‚ 28‚ will miss the SA championships in Stellenbosch on Friday and Saturday‚ but the story being circulated was that he was struggling with an injury.Magakwe’s trainer‚ Eugene Thipe‚ did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Monday night.A representative from the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport declined to comment‚ saying: “The test was conducted under the auspices of the IAAF.”Two IAAF representatives could not be reached for comment.Magakwe won his first SA title in 2009 as an unheralded runner from the North West‚ using borrowed spikes and a shopping packet as a tog bag.He went on to dominate‚ scoring the 100m and 200m double at the SA championships in 2012 and 2013.Magakwe was unlucky to miss going to the 2012 Olympics.He ran six qualifying times in the 100m and another two in the 200m during the build-up to the London Games‚ but none of these were at meets with international status‚ as Team SA’s qualifying criteria required.This is the second big doping blow for Royal Bafokeng athletics club after Tsholofelo Thipe‚ the country’s top female sprinter‚ failed a dope test in 2012...

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