Kiprop: I gave drug-testers money out of generosity

ASBEL KIPROP, the former Olympic and three-times world 1500m champion facing a doping ban, says he paid drug-testers because he ‘thought they wanted it for fuel or tea’. Sportsmail revealed Kiprop had tested positive for EPO out of competition in 2017 before the Kenyan made extraordinary claims last month that he was the victim of corrupt anti-doping officials. Kiprop (below) said his sample had been tampered with and that he was tipped off by doping control officers that they would be visiting him. He claimed his sample ‘turned positive’ because he did not give the testers enough money. The 2008 Olympic gold medallist now says he was unaware of what the money, sent via bank transfer, was for. ‘I thought they wanted fuel for the car or even tea. It’s normal generosity,’ Kiprop told the BBC. ‘It never crossed my mind that he wanted a huge amount of money or what the money was for.’ Last month the Athletics Integrity Unit rejected claims the 28-year-old’s sample was tampered with and that testers had demanded money. Kiprop says a tester asked him: ‘Have you made money?’ after he gave a urine sample. ‘It is rare for them to ask for money,’ Kiprop said. ‘They didn’t specify the amount. To me, I could trust them. ‘It didn’t even come into my mind that I was in a sensitive position. ‘I was so confident about my sample, I never doubted myself. The minute I went into my room to send them the money, probably something happened to my urine sample.’ Kiprop says he was regularly forewarned about testing and would exchange text messages with the tester who he saw as a ‘friend’. ‘The truth will come out and it will clear my name, my image, and the sport as well,’ he said.