Ruth Chepng’etich doping scandal sparks scrutiny of (likely) dirty records

The newest doping scandal starring marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng’etich has rocked the athletics community, raising uncomfortable questions about not just her credibility, but about the legitimacy of several long-standing world records thrown into question by doping scandals. 

Chepng’etich, 30, was handed a provisional suspension on Thursday after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HTCZ), a banned diuretic often used to mask performance-enhanced drugs (PEDs). Her sample was from March 14–not from her record-breaking 2:09:56 performance at October’s Chicago Marathon–so it is likely that, no matter what the outcome of the doping investigation, the mark will remain valid.

Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng’etich suspended for doping

But the scandal has reignited scrutiny of Chepng’etich’s agent, Italian athlete representative Federico Rosa, who has represented a long list of top athletes–at least eight of whom have been implicated in doping cases. Most recently, Rosa athlete Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine, a two-time world long jump silver medallist, was provisionally suspended in May after testing positive for testosterone.

Now, the legacy of athletes whose world records still stand despite serious doping allegations or violations from other races are under fire. Many of these marks, untouched for decades, are viewed with suspicion, especially those from well before today’s evolved testing protocols and detection technology. Some track officials have even pushed for a reset of records set before 2005, which is when the IAAF began storing blood and urine samples for later re-testing.

Here’s a look at some of the most controversial world records that, like Chepng’etich’s likely will, remain in the books.

Marita Koch’s 400m

East Germany sprinter Marita Koch still holds the 400m world record she set in 1985–nearly four-tenths of a second faster than any woman has ever run. Over her career, she set 16 world records outdoors and 14 indoors, won 400m Olympic gold in 1980, and the 200m world championship title in 1983.

Though never caught by anti-doping measures at the time, East Germany had been known to be running state-sponsored doping programs. In 1992, German anti-drug activists published documents containing doping data for many East German athletes; the records showed Koch, between 1981 and 1984, used the anabolic steroid Oral-Turinabol.

Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 800m

In 1983, Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvílová became the second woman in history to dip under 1:54 in the 800m, clocking a new world record of 1:53.28–which still stands, 42 years later. That same year, at the 1983 World Championships, Kratochvílová won 400m and 800m gold, setting a 400m world record (47.99). That mark, since broken by Koch, still stands as the second-fastest performance in history.

Despite doping allegations, Kratochvílová never failed a drug test. In 2006, a Prague newspaper uncovered a state-sponsored doping program run by the Czech government–but no direct link was found to Kratochvílová, the nation’s top athlete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Javier Sotomayor, high jump

Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor set the current world high jump record in 1993, clearly an unmatched 2.45m. A year earlier, he had won Olympic gold at Barcelona. But his legacy remains clouded: at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Sotomayor was banned and stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for cocaine. His two-year ban was lifted early, in 2000, just in time for him to win silver at the Sydney Olympics. In 2001, the jumper earned a lifetime ban from the sport for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.

More than three decades later, Sotomayor’s mark remains the best in history–by two full centimetres.

Wang Junxia’s 3,000m

In 1993, China’s Wang Junxia set the 3,000m world record of 8:06.11–a time that’s still five seconds faster than any woman has ever posted since (including newly-crowned 5,000m world record holder, Beatrice Chebet, who ran her best of 8:11.56 in May). Junxia also held the 10,000m world record of 29:31.78 for 23 years.

In 2016, the IAAF began investigating a letter written in 1995 by Wang and nine other athletes, all of whom were coached by Ma Junren, claiming Junren had forced them to dope using banned substances. Despite the confessions, Junxia’s 3,000m record remains intact.

Christian Coleman’s 60m

In February 2018, American sprinter Christian Coleman broke Maurice Greene’s two-decade-old 60m world record, clocking 6.34. A year later, he won 100m gold at the 2019 World Championships.

In 2020, Coleman was banned for two years for missing three drug tests–constituting a whereabouts failure. He never failed a drug test. His world record still stands, with Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy’s 6.41 from 2022 being the closest challenger since.