Olympic aspirations for 2028 ended for two athletes this week, both of whom received their doping sentencing from the disciplinary tribunal.
Ukrainian horizontal jumper Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk received a four-year ban dating back to May 13, 2025, for the use of testosterone. Last year’s Kenyan 10,000-meter champion Roncer Kipkorir Konga received a three-year ban dating back to June 16, 2025, also for the use of testosterone.
At a glance, these sentences might seem appropriate. But I believe that they’re too light and that the AIU should “Drop the hammer.” Perhaps I’m overly cynical when it comes to judging intent–both athletes denied knowingly taking testosterone, but has any athlete ever actually admitted to taking it?
In my opinion, any athlete caught doping with intent proven beyond a reasonable doubt should have all their previous medals and records taken back and receive an immediate lifetime ban. For Bekh-Romanchuk, this would mean stripping her European title, two World Champion silvers, and other international medals.
Athletes Benefit Before Their Suspension
As the AIU doping rules are written now:
An anti-doping rule violation occurring during or in connection with a Competition shall lead to Disqualification of all the Athlete’s individual results obtained in that Competition, with all resulting consequences for the Athlete, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, awards, points and prize and appearance money.
That’s a start, but it would be naïve to think that most athletes caught doping only did so for a short window around the time they get caught.
In 1991, Inessa Kravets broke the female triple jump record by jumping 14.95m, and she would later jump 15.50m at the World Championships in 1995, going on to hold the world record for over 25 years.
Kravets was caught twice taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). In 1993, she received a three-month ban for stimulants. In 2000, she was suspended for two years after testing positive for an anabolic.
However, both her records still stand in the official record progression—although Yulimar Rojas has since broken the world record twice.
PED Benefits Don’t Magically Disappear After Stopping
Undergoing hormonal or other bodily changes for years under the influence of PEDs can cause permanent changes to your physiology.
For example, some research suggests that, even more than four years after taking anabolic steroids, athletes maintain some benefits.
As of yet, there hasn’t been a case of an athlete who has served a doping ban and then came back to break the World Record, but there have been plenty of cases of athletes winning major championships.
Justin Gatlin is one of the highest-profile cases, having received two doping bans, including a four-year ban for testosterone from 2006 to 2009.
Upon his return, he ran a personal best of 9.74 seconds at the age of 33 in 2015 and won gold at the 2017 World Championships at the age of 35.
Presumed Guilt for Extreme Cases
It’s hard to know how prevalent doping is in athletics. It’s the “dirty secret” that taints many of the current records. One study using anonymous reporting estimated that the prevalence of past-year doping was at least 30% at the 2011 World Championships and 45% at the Pan-Arab Games in Doha.
We may not know how common doping is in athletics, but we can infer one thing. Not every athlete who cheats the system gets caught.
False positives and potential contamination aside, the chances that most athletes who get caught doping only did so once at the exact time they got caught seem incredibly low.
In the most blatant cases of intent, where proof is near irrefutable, it seems like it would be a fair assumption that an athlete who is caught doping has probably been doing so for an extended period.
You could argue “innocent until proven guilty,” but I believe that once guilt is established, it’s fair to risk potentially overestimating the extent of their cheating.
Doping Bans Need to Be Stricter
The 2- to 4-year ban for a first-time doping should be raised for athletes where the intent is near irrefutable. I believe it should be changed to a lifetime ban.
Not every type of doping offence should immediately be met with a lifetime ban, but I believe that certain offences should be, in cases where there’s definitely proof, clear intent, and drugs involved that are unlikely to be used in any other context.
We’ve seen the precedent of a lifetime ban without a first offence in other sports. For example, Pete Rose in baseball for gambling
I’ll leave off with the caveat that some doping offences are more belligerent than others. False positives do happen, and some athletes wrongfully face suspensions. However, they probably make up a small percentage of athletes who get caught.
