JOHANNESBURG: The winner of South Africa’s grueling Comrades Marathon, Ludwick Mamabolo, has tested positive for a banned stimulant in the 89-kilometer race earlier this month, authorities said yesterday.
Mamabolo was found with methylhexaneamine in his system during routine drug screening, the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport said.
“The sample was sent for further analysis to the doping control laboratory in Cologne, Germany,” said the group’s chief, Khalid Galant.
Those results are expected in four weeks, he added.
Mamabolo was the first South African to win the race since 2005.
If an independent tribunal convicts him of doping, he could lose his title and face a two-year ban from the sport.
The 35-year-old won the race through the hills between the eastern cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban in 5 hours 31 minutes 3 seconds.
