Comrades doping just a storm in a 'pee-cup'

The predicted Comrades Marathon "scandal" has turned out to be nothing more than a storm in a "pee-cup".

When it was discovered last week that two of the 26 urine samples taken from elite athletes before and after the June 17 race had been sent to Sydney for further analysis, the assumption was that another doping scandal was about to hit the world's biggest ultra-marathon.

The two samples were singled out when blood screening tests, conducted in conjunction with the urine testing, confirmed unusually high red cell counts.

This could have indicated the abuse of the new prohibited performance-enhancing drug erythropoeitin (EPO), which is popular among endurance athletes.

Sydney has one of only two laboratories in the world accredited to carry out EPO testing.

This year's Comrades became the first South African sports event to test participants for EPO, which boosts oxygen-carrying red cells in the blood.

But the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), in conjunction with the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) and Athletics South Africa (ASA), confirmed on Monday that the 2002 "up" run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg had been "clean".

"The CMA have received official notification from ASA and the Institute that no banned substances have been identified in urine samples analysed after the 2002 Comrades Marathon," the CMA said in a brief statement.

Two runners - second-placed Russian Viktor Zhdanov and Lesotho's Mahlala Mohloli - were disqualified from the 1999 Comrades after later being found guilty of doping offences.

On Tuesday, the CMA confirmed the official results of the 2002 race, as well as the prizemoney breakdown.