Olympian used lookalike in bid to avoid drug test at World Championship trials

08 February 2024 , 12:37

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Michael Saruni (front left) has been banned for four years (Image: Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

Kenyan athlete Michael Saruni has been slapped with a four-year ban after trying to use a lookalike to avoid a drugs test.

Saruni, a 28-year-old runner based in the USA, reached the semi-finals in the 800m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He has now been banned from competing until August 2027 after the Kenyan Anti-Doping Agency (ADAK) revealed the extent of his deception.

Saruni competed in the 800m at the national trials for the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in Nairobi in June 2022. But his behaviour became extremely odd after he was pulled aside for a compulsory drugs test at the Kasarani Stadium.

According to ADAK officials, Saruni was coughing repeatedly and asked to go to the toilet before doing his test. The anti-doping staff swapped over while keeping an eye on him, allowing Saruni to switch places with a friend called Dennis Mwangi.

“I could hear someone in the stall coughing and flushing the toilet,” ADAK chaperone Anthony Kamau said in a statement. “I requested for the stall door to be opened. A male individual stepped out wearing the same outfit as the person I saw rushing to the toilets. I noticed however, that the individual did not look like an athlete who had just finished a race and was also not coughing.”

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Another chaperone, called Michael Omollo, added: “As I was going back to the toilet stalls, I saw someone switching from the first stall to the next door. I followed the individual and found a male behind the door. He was wearing black hooded top and black trousers. I requested him to step out of the stall. I asked him to leave the washroom with me so that Karen [Wairimu – another ADAK employee] can identify the athlete known as Saruni.”

He added: “He was in front of me as we left the washroom. As we approached the DCS, he immediately started running and jumped over a grilled perimeter wall.”

Michael Saruni (left) ran for Kenya in the 800m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saruni ran away from the situation and later claimed at his hearing that he was never asked to provide a sample. He also said that ADAK officials had not used any official means to identify him and never asked for his identification.

But the tribunal rubbished his claims, noting that he had made a payment of 70,000 Kenyan Shilling (£347) to Mwangi. Saruni’s explanation that this money was intended to help him pay hotel bills was also dismissed.

The suspension means Saruni won’t be allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics this summer. Kenya has been fighting against a widespread problem of doping in sports recently. The ADAK announced on Tuesday that it had issued bans, ranging from one year to lifetime suspensions, to 44 Kenyan athletes, including track and field athletes, footballers and swimmers.

Felix Keith