The racist drug scandal

I was going to leave this subject, but to me I need to comment.

The 2012 Comrades Marathon was won by a South African, Ludwick Mamabolo. The first South African to win in seven years. We rejoiced and were so proud to have a South African win one of the premier ultra marathons on earth.

Our glory was short lived, as last week, it was announced, his A urine sample had tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant. This stimulant can give an athlete a heightened sense of awareness, euphoria and energy. It also masks fatigue levels.

His B sample is expected to be tested at the request of the athlete, who has denied any wrong doing. We are not judging him on this platform either. This will be done at a hearing and once his B sample is eventually tested.

My issue here, is the family suddenly makes this a race issue. His father saying that he was targeted because he was a black winner. His father is quoted in the Sowetan  news paper as saying, " He came second in 2010 and nothing was probed. Now he sacrificed his job and trained to win the race, there are issues. Could that not be about the fact that he is black?'
Really!!

All top ten finishers, had urine samples. Many of these were black athletes. The winner tests positive but instead of looking at him, the family play the good old South African trump card-RACE. And in short, they are saying whites don't want a black winner. However, they fail to see, how many black winners there have been- without finding them positive for substances.

As I said-I will wait for the outcome of the second test and the hearing to see about the charges. But I will say now, that I am disgusted at his family for making this a race issue and diverting from the facts of the case.