‘Didn’t want people looking at my performance with doubts’: Sabastian Sawe

Sabastian Sawe. Pic/AFP

Sabastian Sawe hopes the stringent testing regime he underwent before becoming the first person to break the fabled 2-hour barrier in marathon running will prove to the world he is competing clean. The 29-year-old Kenyan pulled off the feat that was long considered unthinkable when winning the London Marathon on Sunday in a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. There have been a slew of high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan runners in recent years, notably women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepng'etich getting a three-year ban in October.

So, in agreement with his coaches and management team, Sawe said he volunteered to undergo "multiple" doping tests to dispel any suspicion around his own performances, including victories at last year's marathons in Berlin and London. "Doping has become a cancer in my country," Sawe told reporters on Monday. Sawe said he and his team decided to implement the stringent testing regime because the possibility of people looking at his results "with a lot of doubts was not good," and he wanted to "show the world that we can run clean and also run fast."

The BBC, which holds the broadcast rights for the London Marathon, reported that Adidas provided $50,000 to the Athletics Integrity Unit, track and field's anti-doping body, to frequently test Sawe over a 12-month period, including 25 out-of-competition tests leading up to the Berlin Marathon in September and a similar number ahead of the London race. The Athletics Integrity Unit didn't immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment on Sawe's testing regime. Sawe is urging other runners to volunteer for more doping tests.

"Everyone will feel comfortable running with his fellow athlete because there will be no doubt thinking (that) someone is using what he's using," he said. "And so, it's important to run clean and to show the world (that) talent, with hard work, discipline and patience," can lead to big achievements. Sawe also credited his footwear for helping him break the marathon record by an astonishing 65 seconds in Sunday's race. He wore an Adidas shoe that weighed less than half the weight of an average running shoe.

After the race, he held up the shoe, which had his winning time written next to it. "The shoe is very nice, very light, comfortable and so supportive," he said, "and is pushing (me) forward." Sawe was already a superstar in marathon running but has suddenly become a global sensation, something the softly spoken Kenyan is going to have to get used to. "Being in the history books is not something easy," he said. "So it means a lot to me in my life and I'm so happy." Sawe said he kept things simple after his world-record run. "I just celebrated in style - I just relaxed and slept well and woke up," he said.

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