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Anesh Debiky\/Gallo Images<\/p>\n
Mamabolo<\/p>\n
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Kevin Lancaster<\/em> <\/p>\n kevin .lancaster@inl.co.za<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The current Comrades Marathon champion, Ludwick Mamabolo, says he will take part in the ultra marathon again this year, despite fighting a doping charge which could see him banned from all sport for two years. <\/p>\n \u201cYes, I will be running. Until my case is over I am allowed to run,\u201d Mamabolo said yesterday. <\/p>\n It was reported in City Press at the weekend that his temporary suspension had been lifted by the <\/p>\n South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids). <\/p>\n The institute\u2019s chief executive officer, Khalid Galant, said the case against Mamabolo would be finalised by the end of April, a month before the Durban-to-Pietermaritzburg race. <\/p>\n The athlete\u2019s legal team was \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d that it would still prove his innocence.<\/em> <\/p>\n Trevor Boswell, of Werksmans Attorneys, who are handling Mamabolo\u2019s defence, said his participation in Comrades would depend on the outcome of the hearing.<\/em> <\/p>\n However, even a guilty verdict could see him compete if the sentence handed down was less than the duration of the six-month ban he had already served.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Athletics South Africa president James Evans said he was aware of the lifting of the suspension and would not appeal.<\/em> <\/p>\n Comrades race director Johan van Staden said if Mamabolo\u2019s ban was still lifted on the race day, he would be allowed to compete.<\/em> <\/p>\n \u201cWe will be guided by Saids. If they say he can run, we will allow him to,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a very difficult situation; we can\u2019t let emotions get involved.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Having tested positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA), days after winning his gold medal last year, the Limpopo athlete was placed on a temporary suspension while hearings were under way.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n After his ban was lifted, Mamabolo re-entered the road racing scene. <\/em> <\/p>\n He competed in the Werda Toyota Mountain half-marathon in Limpopo on February 9, winning the race. This was followed by a second-place finish in the \u201cPotties 4-in-1\u201d 21km race held in Potgietersrus on Saturday.<\/em> <\/p>\n \u201cI am back on the road,\u201d he said, adding that he was in full training. \u201cIt is going well; I am in good shape.\u201d <\/p>\n Galant said the lifting of the ban was done in compliance with the institute\u2019s disciplinary code, and because MHA was a stimulant, and not a steroid, the runner was able to apply for entry back into competition. <\/p>\n He said if Mamabolo chose to take part in races during this time, but was later found guilty of taking the banned stimulant, he would be stripped of his results and prize money. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is a risk he takes,\u201d Galant said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anesh Debiky\/Gallo Images Mamabolo Kevin Lancaster kevin .lancaster@inl.co.za The current Comrades Marathon champion, Ludwick Mamabolo, says he will take part in the ultra marathon again this year, despite fighting a doping charge which could see him banned from all sport for two years. \u201cYes, I will be running. Until my case is over I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-18148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}