Kelly Holmes has admitted for the first time she fears she never competed in a clean race at the Olympics or world championships. Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist also revealed her frustrations that she was deprived of major championship medals by athletes who cheated.
“In the Commonwealth Games I reckon I was probably up against clean athletes,” she said, when asked about major championships, “but if you get one person who used to come fifth or sixth all the time and suddenly they are winning everything and they are getting a world record it’s a bit suspicious. Somebody who is almost 40 and never broke four minutes [for 1500m] in her life, becomes world record holder indoors and breaks four minutes. Is that not suspicious? You get a feeling in sport and it’s not nice.”
Holmes was referring to the American 1500m athlete Regina Jacobs, who beat her to gold at the 2003 world indoor championships but shortly afterwards tested positive for the designer steroid THG and was banned for four years. Another athlete, the Slovenian Jolanda Ceplak, who won the 2002 European Championships in a race where Holmes came home with bronze, was also banned in 2007 after a positive test for EPO.
“I have missed out,” Holmes said. “All the bronzes and silvers, I know some of the people above me have cheated. I could have got more golds. Definitely. What makes me prouder is I’ve actually beaten lots of people who have cheated. Look at my 1500m in Athens, who came second? Tatyana Tomashova.”
Tomashova was given a two-year ban in 2008 for manipulating drug samples yet returned to win bronze over 1500m at the London 2012 Olympics. That race has since been dubbed the “dirtiest in history” – with six of the top nine in the final having tested positive for a banned substance either beforehand or afterwards.
“It was obvious at the time,” said Holmes. “And it’s not just 2012. You look at all the Russian athletes that have been caught and there are loads of them.”
She also expressed doubts that Russia’s athletes should be allowed to compete in Rio, saying: “You can’t tell me that everyone who has taken drugs haven’t benefited for months and months. They’ve got stronger, fitter and have more endurance. But it’s not just Russia. What about everyone else?”
Holmes, who is hoping to raise £250,000 for five charities when she runs in the London marathon for the first time on Sunday, said it reflected the best of sport. “The race unites all backgrounds, races and religions,” she said, before laughing as she announced her ambition to finish in under three hours and 30 minutes. “I’m not racing anyone but myself, and any big bird that runs past me,” she joked.
