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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Irish marathon runner Martin Fagan faces suspension for doping offence

This sad piece of news appeared in today's Irish Times. Irish Marathon runner Martin Fagan was informed by Athletics Ireland of an “adverse analytical finding”, the technical term for a positive drugs test. Fagan is due to attend an adjudication hearing in Dublin on Monday to explain why traces of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) were found in the A-sample of an out-of-competition doping test taken at his US training base in December.

The Irish Times article said..."Fagan may now request to have the B-sample tested in order to back up the initial finding, although sources last night indicated there was likely to be a more immediate outcome to the matter. Athletics Ireland declined to comment on any details of the case as it is still under due procedure, but one spokesperson indicated Fagan had a “serious” case to answer."

The full article by Ian O'Riordan can be seen HERE

Postscript..Mon 16th Jan....There are now two more articles by Ian O'Riordan in which Martin Fagan admits that he took EPO, his battle with depression and how he effectively ended his athletics career.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0116/1224310310398.html and http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0116/1224310309138.html
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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous14/1/12 5:19 pm

    sad sad news!

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  2. Anonymous14/1/12 8:05 pm

    if it's positive...they should throw the book at him..disgrace

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  3. Anonymous14/1/12 10:34 pm

    Irish running making the news for all the wrong reasons...sad day

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  4. John16/1/12 7:06 am

    Relief to fore as athlete admits his race is run http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0116/1224310310398.html

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  5. Anonymous16/1/12 8:50 am

    Very sad day for Irish athletics. Leaves a sick feeling in my stomach at the thoughts of it and casts an unfair negative light on other Irish athlets who are hopping off the ground at the moment...

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  6. Anonymous16/1/12 5:29 pm

    while i think he should get the book thrown at him for it, i do have sympathy for him.
    To think that excellent runners like Martin are under pressure to make races in order to pay the bills-yet there are soccer players in england on 20/30/40 grand per week for what they do? I think there is a huge imbalance in sport which this highlights again.
    John Terry on 150K per week, Geoffrey Mutai gets 80K for winning and running a course record in the london marathon.
    I hope Martin deals with the depression and moves on.

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  7. Anonymous16/1/12 8:44 pm

    will he pay back all that money he got in funding?

    the response by fagan is typical of the mentality which tries to excuse this type of cheating similar in the manner in which a cork athlete tried to defend himself in 2004.

    we all suffer hardships in life - cheating is a moral weakness

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  8. Anonymous16/1/12 9:42 pm

    Have great sympathy for him.Hope he comes back

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  9. Anonymous17/1/12 10:35 am

    very sad, that lad has given his life and his body to running for ireland, his body is now wrecked Where were Athletics Ireland when he needed his grant last year. Imagine them telling him they would take back his grant and he wasnt even in receipt of one.

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  10. Anonymous17/1/12 8:18 pm

    can't believe some people condone drug use. no wonder it's rampant in running and cycling. would they condone a heroin addict shooting up in the middle class street where they live?

    fagan had talent and failed to respect that talent

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  11. Anonymous19/1/12 8:35 pm

    Sean Kelly tested positive for drugs twice but is still a national hero.

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