Greed fuelling doping menace, says Ethiopian athletics boss Tulu
Ethiopia Athletics Federation President Derartu Tulu. She became the first African woman to win gold medal at the Olympics when she triumphed in the 10,000m final at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
What you need to know:
- In Derartu's view, use of performance-enhancing substances is not only unethical but also gives the user unfair advantage over the clean athletes
- The Athletics Integrity Unit has grouped Ethiopia in Category ‘A’ which has countries where doping is most rampant
- Derartu is happy that athletes from East Africa perform well in middle and long distance races but insists they should extend their dominance to field events
If you walk along the streets of Ethiopian capital city Addis Ababa and ask upcoming female runners whom their role model is, the answer will most likely be Derartu Tulu.
And rightly so. The Ethiopia Athletics Federation President Tulu is the first Ethiopian and the first black woman to have won an Olympics gold medal, a feat she achieved when she won the women’s 10,000 metres final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The former long-distance runner competed in track, cross country, and road running up to the marathon distance.
Her dominance of distance running has captivated Ethiopian athletes, including her nieces Genzebe Dibaba, Tirunesh Dibaba and Ejegayehu Dibaba who have gone on to make a name for themselves in track and road running.
In an exclusive interview with Nation Sport last week on the sidelines of the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Derartu reckons success in athletics lies in the tried and tested method of training hard.
In her view, use of performance-enhancing substances is not only unethical but also gives the user unfair advantage over the clean athletes.
Dressed in the same attire as the Ethiopian team for the opening ceremony, she could easily pass for an athlete. In fact at some point, volunteers not familiar with her denied her access to the VIP section during the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships before apologising soon after confirming her details.
Speaking in Amharic which was translated to us by her team doctor Beshahe Ayalew Tilahun and Ethiopian journalist Ariyat Raya, Tulu did not mince her words on the need for athletes to compete fair and win clean. The Athletics Integrity Unit has grouped Ethiopia in Category ‘A’ which has countries where doping is most rampant. Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Bahrain and Belarus are also in the same category .
“In our time, we used to compete clean. Sheer talent drove us to victory, and it was healthy competition but today he desire for quick money is pushing athletes to use drugs. That is why you see some athlete doing well for a short time before disappearing after few years,” Tulu said.
Being a former athlete, she understands the challenges runners go through, something that has helped her in her current role.
“It’s quit challenging to run an office as a woman but I have succeeded because I have a great team which supports me. I was once an athlete and I know the challenges runners go through and that is why I’m trying hard to make sure we have as many athletes as possible who are supported by the federation in terms of nurturing talent,” she said.
She is happy that athletes from East Africa perform well in middle and long distance races but insists they should extend their dominance to field events.
Since being elected to office in November 2018, she has been working to improve Ethiopia's performance in athletics.
"Athletics is changing and we need to change with time. Many countries are coming up fast . We witnessed this during the 2020 Olympic Games. Competition has become tougher but we are constantly trying to nurture new talents,” she said.
She has asked athletes to invest their money wisely. “Athletics careers often come to an end. At their peak, runners should invest their money wisely and observe self discipline at all time. We have seen athletes running well and getting wealthy and after a few years they disappear and go back to poverty,” Tulu, who grew up tending to cattle in Bekoji in Arsi Province of Ethiopia before taking up athletics, said.
Like other African countries, Ethiopia does not have adequate talent development centres and infrastructure, although the government is setting up academies in various regions.
Ethiopia held its team selection for the 2020 Olympics in the Dutch city of Hengelo because Covid-19 pandemic denied many of the country’s athletes opportunities to attain the qualification mark.
“Many athletes did not get a chance to compete last year due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced the cancellation sporting events globally, and our stadium in Addis Ababa does not meet the required standard, so we headed to Hengelo,” she said.
“We have now acquired the right equipment and we hope our team for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon will be selected in Addis Ababa,” she said.
She has good memories of competing with Kenyans like Sally Barsosio, Lydia Cheromei, Catherine Ndereba, among others.
“We used to compete and stay together like sisters and this helped us a lot because we could share on how to build our families and invest with the little money we were awarded during various events across the globe,” she said.
She won many cross-country races during her career, but her big achievement remains winning the 10,000m gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. She also won gold in 10,000m race at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and many marathon races abroad.
