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Sepeng hits out at doping ban
23/05/2006 12:35 - (SA)
Cape Town - South Africa's former Olympic
800m silver medalist Hezekiel Sepeng has hit out at the
two-year suspension he received from Athletics South Africa
(ASA) for doping.
"I'm so angry with the system," Sepeng said in
Johannesburg's Star newspaper on Tuesday. "I know I did not
take any drug, I feel cheated. If I was taking drugs I would
have broken the world record.
"Everything I have won was just my talent and my hard work,
I just want to tell those who believe in me that I will come
back next year and make them happy," said the 31-year-old, who
won the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Sepeng was tested out of season in his hometown of
Potchefstroom in February 2005.
The findings of the test were made public in May last year,
when it was revealed that his sample contained traces of the
steroid Norandrosterone.
He claimed there were exceptional circumstances, which were
never made public.
ASA turned the matter over to the International Amateur
Athletics Federation, which found there were no exceptional
circumstances.
Sepeng was handed a two-year suspension on Monday,
effective May 11, 2005, the date he was provisionally suspended.
- Reuters
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