Grandma's Marathon Winner Disqualified for Steroids

This article below is in today's Duluth News Tribune Why the hell would someone even show up TO race if they knew there were drug tests they would fail?

Grandma’s winner disqualified
Kevin Pates Duluth News Tribune
Published Friday, December 15, 2006

Halina Karnatsevich of Belarus was officially disqualified as the women’s champion of the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon on Thursday. USA Track and Field confirmed that she tested positive for the prohibited substance Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.

Karnatsevich, 37, who also won the 2005 Grandma’s Marathon title, has forfeited her $8,000 in prize money from the June 17 race. Runner-up Svetlana Nekhorosh, 32, of Ukraine has been named the winner.

It was the first positive test for Grandma’s Marathon, which has included drug testing four times in 30 years.

In accordance with International Association of Athletics Federation policy, the Belarus Athletic Federation has banned Karnatsevich from competition for two years, until July 21, 2008. She is Belarus’ top-ranked female marathoner.

Ten athletes from the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon, including the top three men and women, were tested in Duluth immediately after the race by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of Colorado Springs, Colo. USA Track and Field randomly selects American road races to be drug tested annually. Grandma’s Marathon was last tested in 1994.

“I say, ‘Let’s catch the cheats.’ We want a clean sport. We want a level playing field for everyone,’’ Grandma’s Marathon executive director Scott Keenan said.

The outcome was announced by the Belarus Athletic Federation in October, when USA Track and Field reported a non-negative result in testing one of Karnatsevich’s two drug samples. Yet the official results, after tests from a second drug sample were completed, weren’t released until Thursday, nearly six months after the race.

“Our sport has cheating going on, but most races don’t have the resources to have their own drug testing,’’ said Katie Koski, 33, of Two Harbors, who has run Grandma’s Marathon eight times and was 19th in this year’s women’s race. “If you’re lucky and play your cards right, you can make a lot of money before you’re caught.

“I’m sure there are Americans who cheat, but I think it’s more likely to be Eastern European runners, who aren’t tested by their governing associations. They can come here and run in some smaller races and make a living.’’

The last 10 women’s winners at Grandma’s Marathon have come from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova or Kyrgyzstan.

Duluthian Jarrow Wahman, 45, who has raced for 30 years and run in 13 Grandma’s Marathons, said he isn’t surprised by the disqualification.

“If there’s money to be made, some runners will take the risk,’’ Wahman said. “To win $8,000 means so much more to someone from a country in Eastern Europe or Africa.’’

The lengthy testing process delayed payment to this year’s race prize-money winners and didn’t allow the Grandma’s Marathon race results booklet to have the official women’s winner listed.

“We’re interested in more dialogue to get increased testing in American road racing. We want to cooperate,’’ said Keenan, who has been with Grandma’s Marathon since its inception in 1977. “And when there is testing, we would like to get the results in a more timely manner.’’

Grandma’s Marathon asked to be tested this year, and Keenan said he already has put in a request with USA Track and Field for the testing in 2007.

Karnatsevich won the 2005 Grandma’s Marathon in2 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds, the second-fastest women’s time in race history, and won in June in 2:33:39, beating Nekhorosh by nearly four minutes.

Grandma’s Marathon officials have mailed Nekhorosh the additional $1,500 she earned by placing first. On Dec. 3, in the Macau International Marathon, Nekhorosh was third in 2:41:46.

Karnatsevich lives in Grodno, in northwest Belarus, and is married with a 5-year-old son. She has been running professionally for about 10 years and has a marathon best of 2:27:14.

“She is a treasure in Belarus. She is a star,’’ Grandma’s Marathon entrant Dzmitry Sivou of Belarus said of Karnatsevich in June.

I don't think she's a treasure anymore in her own country.....