—-Vows to return stronger after three-year ban
Leemisa Thuseho
IN her first interview since accepting a three-year suspension from professional running, Olympian Mokulubete Makatisi has expressed his hope to return stronger, though she admits it will not be easy.
Makatisi was recently banned for three years by the Africa Zone VI Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) after testing positive for the prohibited substance, trenbolone, during an out-of-competition sample test in Maseru on October 11, 2024.
Trenbolone is an anabolic steroid considered a performance-enhancing drug.
Although Makatisi maintains she did not deliberately take the banned substance and is unsure how it ended up in her system, she accepted the guilt to avoid harsher consequences.
Unintentional doping can occur when athletes consume food, supplements or medicines containing prohibited substances unknowingly.
However, in anti-doping, lack of knowledge is not an excuse, and there is limited sympathy even for cases attributed to carelessness.
Makatisi has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained since October 10, 2024, including her victory at the 2024 Qacha’s Nek Mountain Marathon 21.
The consequences of a doping ban for an athlete’s health, psychology, and finances can be far-reaching and damaging, even after the initial ban period.
“Truly speaking, even today I cannot tell what happened, how the drug ended up in my body,” Makatisi told the Lesotho Times yesterday.
Makatisi said the positive test came as a shock, and she did not know how to explain it to the RADO.
“The only way was to accept the guilt and wait for the punishment,” she said.
Makatisi said her coach Martin Ngwenya was angry with her, believing she is hiding the truth. But she maintains that she does not know what happened and how the prohibited substance ended up in her blood stream.
Makatisi, who finished 31st in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a time of 2:30:20, said she had not been taking any supplements since the Games and was in the first trimester of her pregnancy at the time, unable to use anything without a doctor’s consultation.
“I have been asking myself many things, trying to find out what I might have eaten or any suspected supplements, but could not find answers because I had not been taking any supplements since the Olympic Games,” Makatisi said.
“But anything is possible in this world, you can be a target and be plotted against.”
While understanding the shame she has brought to her coaches, fans, country, and the athletics community, Makatisi pleaded for sympathy and promised to return stronger.
“I so wish I can know what I did wrong, so that I do not repeat the same mistake, or else this is going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” she said.
Makatisi’s suspension is a significant setback for Lesotho’s athletics, as she is currently one of the top female marathoners in the country.
Doping has destroyed the careers of other top Lesotho athletes, including marathoner ‘Mamoroallo Tjoka and sprinter Mosito Lehata who are still under suspension for violating anti-doping rules.
