‘Dear IAAF, we cannot trust you anymore’… Olympic champion Robert Harting leads video criticising governing body following latest doping allegations

August 10, 2015 | Athletics News |

'Dear IAAF, we cannot trust you anymore'… Olympic champion Robert Harting leads video criticising governing body following latest doping allegations

Olympic discus champion Robert Harting leads IAAF criticisms
World governing body under fire after recent doping allegations
Harting declined consideration for IAAF Athlete of the Year last year in protestÃÂ of Justin Gatlin also being nominated

Nesha Starcevic, Associated Press

Published:
15:05, 10 August 2015

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Updated:
17:26, 10 August 2015

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A group of athletes led by Olympic discus champion Robert Harting has released a video message criticizing track and field's world governing body over recent doping allegations.

'Dear IAAF, we cannot trust you anymore,' Harting said in the video posted on YouTube. 'We have to act now.'

Harting, a three-time world champion who won Olympic gold in London in 2012, has been a vocal critic of the International Association of Athletics Federations. He declined to be considered for the IAAF's Athlete of the Year award in 2014 because he did not want to appear alongside candidates who have served doping bans, including U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin.

Olympic discus champion Robert Harting has led a scathing video message of the IAAF

Harting celebrating his gold medal triumph at the Olympic Stadium during London 2012

The video comes after reports by German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times that blood doping was rampant in the sport, citing leaked test results from an IAAF database. The IAAF has strongly rejected suggestions that it had failed to follow up on the suspicious tests and that it wasn't doing enough to uncover doping.

The media reports examined the results of 12,000 blood tests involving 5,000 athletes from 2001 to 2012, and concluded that 800 were suspicious. The reports said that 146 medals – including 55 golds – in disciplines ranging from the 800 meters to the marathon at the Olympics and world championships were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests.

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'You damage our sport,' U.S. shot putter Eric Werskey says in the video.

Harting's girlfriend, discus thrower Julia Fischer, holds up a handwritten message saying: 'You broke my childhood dreams.'

'You put money over athletes,' says hammer thrower Kathrin Klaas, while 800-meter runner Robin Schembera adds: 'I want to run against clean athletes, not monsters.'

Harting concludes with the message, 'You betrayed my beliefs.'

Harting declined a nomination for an IAAF award as he didn't want to be considered alongside Justin Gatlin

German hammer thrower Kathrin Klaas is one of the other athletes to feature in the video

The athletes say they demand 'honesty, integrity, transparency.'

They hold up signs with (hashtag) hitIAAF.

The doping reports were published ahead of this month's world championships in Beijing, which the IAAF said is 'causing stress and confusion' for athletes.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating the claims made by ARD, and the IAAF said it is 'comfortable that an independent, impartial assessment of the data and the follow-up action by the IAAF will now be made by the competent authority.'

The IAAF hit back at two scientists whose findings led to allegations this week of widespread doping in the sport, saying Saturday that their assertions are 'seriously incorrect.'

In a scathing statement, the IAAF said the two Australian anti-doping scientists, Michael Ashenden and Robin Parisotto, were wrong to claim that the governing body didn't act on suspicious blood profiles and 'had no knowledge whatsoever of the actions taken by the IAAF.'