Simon Magakwe banned for seven years for doping

Former national 100m record holder Simon Magakwe has been handed another ban, which is likely to bring the controversial sprinter’s elite career to a close.

Magakwe, who was sidelined earlier in his career for an anti-doping rule violation, has been suspended for seven years after testing positive for a prohibited substance, according to the SA Institute for Drug Free Sport (Saids).

He tested positive on 20 February for RAD140, an experimental drug which boosts testosterone.

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The 35-year-old athlete had chosen not to appeal the adverse analytical finding and no disciplinary hearing was held.

“A written decision was issued in terms of Article 7.10 of the Saids Anti-Doping Rules because the athlete did not exercise his/her right to have their case heard before an independent doping hearing panel,” the anti-doping body said in its report on the case.

Magakwe, who won the African title in 2012, clocked 9.98 seconds in Pretoria in April 2014 to become the first South African athlete to dip under 10 seconds in track and field’s flagship 100m event.

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The following season he was suspended for two years for apparently refusing to take an out-of-competition test, but he returned to form after making a comeback in 2017.

He went on to win his eighth national 100m title in 2019 and bagged silver as part of the SA 4x200m team at the World Relays in Yokohama.

Magakwe will not be allowed to compete again until February 2028, at the age of 41.