Zane Robertson comes clean - why he choose to cheat!

So he continues to throw other people under the bus for his own mistakes... lovely.

He wanted to respect the Kenyan culture so he took EPO. He’d be racist if he didn’t accept their hospitality

He was dumb enough to get caught. Real champions don't get caught.

Alan

I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT WAS FAUCI'S FAULT THAT HE CHEATED!!!

You can’t be serious.

We can't dismiss the effect of a strong resemblance to Beevis

Liar still lying.

Very doubtful he had epo in his fridge that long. The give away is he said he forgot about it, but went to great lengths to take it to Ethiopia with him. No one is getting caught the first time.

Real story is probably; using for some time. Wife was buying for him at his request. Took latest supply with him to Ethiopia.

This is a guy that went to great lengths to create fake papers and a cover story. He is still not coming clean. At best this new story is a half truth.

The least damaging thing to say is I only took it once. Then you can pretend any results before that were clean. It is just an attempt to preserve his legacy.

I don't know, the circumstances and comments show (perhaps on purpose) he doesn't really know how epo works. If he had actually been taking it for a while you would think he would know (at a minimum from experience even if he didn't take the time to look it up on the internet) that it takes weeks to have an effect and, test wise, after a few days, and certainly after a week, it is not detectable.

He got caught by an in race test. Are there any other dopers who were snagged for epo by an in race test?

Yes. It happens when you are micro dosing and it is injected subcutaneously instead of in the vein. Which stays in the system much longer and the user might not know they messed up when they administered it.

You only stop micro dosing before a key event. (Worlds, Olympics, Marathon)

Agreed. After going to such great lengths, it's unlikely he's suddenly telling the full truth, and someone like this would of course try to preserve their legacy as much as possible.

33 years old and unable to come to terms with age related decline.

Everything he said was for money. He wanted money and didn't want to get a 'real' job. He kept complaining about not winning enough prize money and losing the contract. You can run without all of that, he just wanted to get enough money from running to not get a real job. But in his mind maybe he doesn't think he can make enough money from a normal job to live his life. And this might be why a lot of Africans decide to dope. Their best shot at money is from running fast, where people from wealthier countries are more likely to get a good paying job away from running. Maybe by Zane leaving New Zealand and going all in on running and not going to college, he financially doesn't have many options outside of winning prize money and having a running contract. So he decided to cheat to hopefully make more money.

Okay, misinjection makes sense, but does this also maybe suggest unfamiliarity?

I know nothing other than what the internet says on a quick search, but apparently epo is broken down in the body pretty quickly. Days, which is why it has the short half life to detect. So you need to be constantly injecting it for weeks to get get an effect:

"For anemia from chemotherapy:
Adults—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your
doctor. The starting dose is 150 units per kilogram (kg) injected under
the skin three times a week or 40,000 units injected under the skin once
a week. Your doctor may adjust the dose as needed."

150 units if you do it 3 times a week or 40,000(!) units if used once a week.
So even subcutaneously you need a huge dose if it is going to make it in your body for a week.

Using epo apparently means you need to be pretty good with a needle and willing to constantly be doing it. Shows why you can be caught in out of season tests despite the low 'glow' time.

The story seems absurd. For someone who used it once, he sure seems to have a feel for how well it worked on him. Also he used it once and it was in the glowing window (2-6 days?) of the race which he could’ve easily researched in before? What was he possibly thinking…

Great point! If you are truly committed to being a clean athlete why do you keep the stuff around and bring it with you when you move?

What if the testing got better and it is possible to detect EPO for say 10 days?!