In a seemingly desperate attempt to save face, banned Kenyan drug cheat Rita Jeptoo is now blaming a doctor for pumping her full of the EPO that ultimately led to her two-year suspension, a doctor that Jeptoo is conveniently unable to name. 

 

If you remember, Jeptoo was hit with a two-year ban by Athletics Kenya back in January when her “B” sample was revealed to be positive, and subsequently stripped of her 2014 Chicago Marathon title. Her ban runs through October 29th, 2016.

 

Her punishment only affected her results after September 25th, 2014, however, since her positive test occurred on September 24th of that year. This means that Jeptoo remains the 2013 Chicago Marathon champion and the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathon champion as well. 

 

The 34-year-old spoke with Emmanuel Sabuni of Sports News Arena on Thursday, claiming that it was not her coach, Claudio Berardelli, who gave her the performance-enhancing drug, but instead a random doctor at a Kenyan hospital who treated Jeptoo following an accident. Since she was attended to by several doctors, Jeptoo can’t be certain who it was. Classic!

 

“If the doctor who did this had told me that that was EPO, I could have stopped him,” she told Sabuni. 

 

Did you ever think of asking, Rita?! If this story is true, why wouldn’t she return to the hospital and demand information? And what incentive would the unnamed doctor have to dope her up? 

 

These are questions that Jeptoo has yet to answer. 

 

At best, her claim comes off as a cry for help, as she is only now explaining her positive test nearly 10 months after receiving the ban. And it gets better— Jeptoo then offers her take on reports of Kenya being WADA’s next target for a massive doping clean up in the wake of Russia’s suspension for state-sponsored doping.

 

“World Anti-doping Agency should stop blackmailing Kenyans, instead, they should go for individuals or culprits and stop threats,” she said. Jeptoo insists that no Kenyan athletes should be banned, but instead, the “fake doctors operating in the country illegally.” 

 

Ultimately, every athlete is responsible for what goes into their bodies, but this is a concept that Jeptoo doesn’t seem to understand. 

 

“Drugs are serious and destroying athletes and the whole world is watching,” she said. 

 

At least she has that part figured out.