The Athletics Integrity Unit admitted Tuesday that Sharon Lokedi, who won this past weekend's New York City Marathon after entering the race as a virtual unknown, was not subject to the same drug tests as other athletes after falling through a series of loopholes in the anti-doping system. According to a report by the New York Times, there is nothing to suggest that Lokedi violated anti-doping rules in spite of the AIU's oversight.
According to Brett Clothier, the head of the AIU, the organization had only tested the top 80 long-distance road racing competitors -- 40 men and 40 women -- using World Athletics rankings. Lokedi was not a part of that group, as she had no ranking in marathon competition and only ranked 47th in half-marathon competition.
The 28-year-old from Kenya was also not subject to the same testing standards as American runners due to her status as a foreigner, despite her being largely based in the United States. Lokedi attended the University of Kansas and lives and trains in Flagstaff, Ariz., but the burden of anti-doping testing falls on her country of origin.
New York Road Runners, the organizers of the New York City Marathon, claimed that Lokedi's name had been submitted to the AIU in June as part of its professional athlete field and subsequent lists, at which point it falls on the AIU to manage testing. Lokedi was also subject to a drug test following her victory.
While American runners are subject to submitting their daily whereabouts so they can be randomly tested by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, foreign athletes do not have to tell the USADA where they are, which makes it more difficult to administer random drug tests. According to Travis Tygart, chief executive of the USADA, Lokedi was drug tested twice this year, but it is unclear whether such tests took place at races or were random, out-of-competition tests.
Lokedi, who won the NYC Marathon in two hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds, had a relatively unimpressive resume entering the race, but she finished fourth in the New York City Half Marathon earlier this year while also placing second in the New York Mini 10K.
Lokedi trained in Kenya leading into the marathon, but it was unclear whether she was subject to any random drug testing while training overseas. Kenya has had a poor anti-doping record, as the AIU noted last month that 10 Kenyan athletes have failed drug tests for triamcinolone -- an illegal anti-inflammatory medication -- since the start of 2021.
