Top 11 Running Doping Scandals Of All Time

During these past years, some of the biggest running doping scandals of all time have occurred. Sports, in general, have been tainted by athletes who try to enhance their capabilities through the use of drugs, like Erythropoietin (EPO). This hormone is more commonly used in sports that require endurance, as it increases the capacity of blood to carry oxygen. Steroids are another common example, testosterone being one of them, they are used to enhance muscle power. Finally, amongst the most common banned substances, we have the human growth hormone (HGH), which is used to improve the time of recovery as it stimulates tissue growth.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are two institutions in charge of testing athletes for possible use of performance-enhancing substances, and the International Olympic Committee can ban athletes from competition. The sentences can be appealed, two years is the usual one, but depending on the doping violation it can be up to a lifetime ban

Looking for the top running scandals of all time, we couldn’t find any concrete results. We went through different blog posts, like the ones done by Competitor, TopTenz and Atlanta Black Star, amongst others, but most of them didn’t have up to date information. In order to make this list, we decided to include the most recent events that have shaken the sports world, like the IAAF leak, and also looked up each of the athletes that fit into the running category that appeared in these posts, selected the most scandalous and organized from bottom to top taking into account factors like medals lost, impact of the scandal, ban sentences and if so, jail sentences. Finally, if you are interested, you should definitely check out our other article on the top 10 accounting scandals of all time once you are done with this one.

Here are the top 11 running doping scandals of all time:

11. Eddy Hellebuyck (USA)

At the beginning of our list we have Eddy Hellebuyck, a Belgian athlete who obtained US citizenship and was suspended for two years in 2004, when his test results indicated the use of EPO. After six years of denying this claims, in 2010 he finally admitted to doping.

10. Tyson Gay (USA)

The American runner had to go through a year ban after he tested positive for doping in 2013, and the entire sprinting team lost the silver medal they had won at the London Olympic. He didn’t get the usual two-year ban after he helped the United States Anti-Doping Agency in the case against his former coach, Jon Drummond, who was banned for 8 years.

9. Rita Jeptoo (Kenya)

Traces of the blood booster EPO were found in Rita Jeptoo’s test results. Jepto was banned for two years, since October 2014, even though the IAAF appealed for a harsher punishment, asking for the ban to be extended to four years instead.

8. Rashid Ramzi (Bahrain)

Rashid Ramzi won the gold medal for 1500m at Beijing Olympic, the first Olympic medal Bahrain ever won, but it was taken away after his test results were positive for a blood buster. Ramzi was banned from competition for two years, the ban ended in May, 2011.

7. Kelli White (USA)

At the middle of our Top 11 Running Doping Scandals of All Time, we have Kelli White. White’s doping was linked to the  Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) scandal, which involved a business giving anabolic steroids to many professional athletes, like Regina Jacobs, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds. White lost two medals because of this and was banned for two years from competition.

6. Justin Gatlin (USA)

Gatlin’s complicated career started early. In 2001, when he was still at college, he was banned for two years, as there were traces of amphetamine on his tests. He later argued that this was result of the treatment he had received for attention deficit disorder when he was younger and was able to come back after a year. But, in 2006, his results for doping came positive again, in this case, for testosterone. Gatlin avoided a lifetime ban from competition in exchange for cooperating with doping authorities and obtained an 8-year ban, which he appealed again and was able to reduce it to four.

5. Asli Cakir (Turkey)

In August of this year, Asli Cakir admitted to blood doping. As a result, she lost all of her competitive results since July 2010, including the gold medal she had won at the 2012 London Olympics. This was Cakir’s second doping violation, the first one happened in 2004 and she had been sentenced to a two-year ban. This time, the ban was extended to 8 years, meaning she won’t be able to compete until January 2021.

4. Marion Jones (USA)

Marion Jones admitted using steroids during the Sydney Olympics, where she won 5 medals, 3 of them gold in 2000. But, because she had lied about it in the first place, not only did she lose her medals and was banned from competing for two years, but she was also sentenced to prison for six months in 2008.

3. Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou (Greece)

The Greek pair had won gold and silver medals at the Sydney Olympic in 2000, but in 2004 they failed to attend a drug test. To explain their absence, they claimed they had been in a motorcycle accident, and a week into the games, they abandoned the competition. It was later found out that the accident had been staged, and they were both found guilty of perjury. Aside from being suspended by the IAAF, they were sentenced to 31 months in jail each.  

2. Ma’s Army (China)

Ma’s Army was the name of the Chinese group that participated in the different competitions, led by coach Ma Junren. In this scandal, there was never definite proof that doping was somehow involved, but even so, the consequences were huge. Back in 1993, when people started doubting about the performance of one of the female runners and demanding for drug tests, before any of that could happen, some of the runners mutinied against Junren because of the strict exercise regime, which apparently involved exotic diets, extreme workouts, athletes couldn’t even have boyfriends, and deserted the team. In 2000, 27 members of China’s Olympic team, including 6 trained by Ma Junren were taken out before they could even compete at the Sydney Olympics, apparently in fear of the recently approved blood testing, which could detect the use of EPO.

1. IAAF Doping Leak

At the end of our Top 11 running doping scandals of all time, we have the IAAF doping leak. This year, The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WRD obtained information about thousands of competitor’s blood test results from 2001-2012, 225 of them with dubious readings, and accused the International Association of Athletics Federations of failing to detect these suspicious blood values. The list includes some of the most known names in the sports world, athletes from 39 different countries, Russia and Kenya with the highest amounts, with 58 and 25 respectively.