Cape Town — Thando Dlodlo’s ban for doping is a horrible example for any athlete, says Paul Gorries, who feels “terrible” for the three other members of South Africa’s 4x100m team that will be stripped of their gold medal at last year’s World Relays.
Gorries, the national sprints and relay coach, expressed his dismay about Dlodlo’s positive test for “testosterone and its related compounds”, which will see him out of action for two years and six months — from June 29, 2021 until December 28, 2023.
Apart from Dlodlo not being able to run until 2024, the rest of the SA 4x100m relay team of Clarence Munyai, Gift Leotlela and Akani Simbine, won’t be able to call themselves champions any longer.
The CEO of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids), Khalid Galant, told Independent Media yesterday that Dlodlo had been tested as the national championships in Pretoria last April, and was provisionally suspended on June 29, when the positive result was confirmed after further tests were completed.
In the meantime, though, the 22-year-old sprinter had been part of the SA World Relays team in Poland in May, and also ran in a few races in Europe in June — but all those results are now affected by the positive test.
“At the end of the day, athletes are responsible for what they do. I feel terrible for the other three athletes — in terms of losing a medal. It’s a project that I’m running, and I... such a lot of time and investment in this. For us to lose a medal in this way…” Gorries told Independent Media yesterday.
“I haven’t heard from the other three athletes. I think everyone is just processing it. Look, we knew it was coming, but it was just a matter of hoping that there was some sort of explanation.
“We even got Saids out to our training camps, to prevent things like this from happening.
“There was absolutely no need for him to have taken something. There is no easy way in this world — you put your head down and you work hard. He was producing the times as a junior already, and for me.
“I have absolutely no idea what he did or where he got it, who (influenced him). My job is to coach, and when it comes to the relay, to put the best relay team together.
“At the time that we went to World Relays, that was the best team that we could put together — and the result spoke for itself. We didn’t think about the unthinkable (doping).”
Gorries and Dlodlo’s manager, Peet van Zyl, have not heard from the athlete since they sent him home from their training base in Italy last June.
“I told him, ‘You better come clean and tell us where you got this and who gave it to you’, and he just said nothing. He packed his bags, he got on to the plane and I haven’t heard from him since,” Van Zyl told Independent Media yesterday.
“He started to do well and he competed in a few races in Europe. He must have started taking this stuff in South Africa already, as he was tested at the SA champs.
“I don’t know what he’s doing and I don’t know where he is, and I haven’t heard anything about him. All I can say is that I know of three other guys (Simbine, Munyai and Leotlela) who are very, very upset.”
Gorries, though, said that life has to move on for the SA relay squad, despite the frustration of years of preparation essentially going to waste with the loss of the World Relays gold medal.
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“That’s (Dlodlo’s ban) a horrible example for any athlete, especially for the younger ones coming through and having to see something like this,” he said.
“But we still have the quality. We have a lot of young athletes that’s brilliant, that’s better, that’s going to be better. We still have a lot of depth within the team.
“So, I can’t dwell too long on these things — that’s the sad reality. But we have world juniors coming up and we also have world seniors coming up.”
IOL Sport