Fionnuala McCormack hails drug policy

Fionnuala McCormack believes a failed drugs test for Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong shows the IAAF’s policies are working.

Sumgong is the latest Kenyan athlete to fail a drugs test. The 32-year-old tested positive for banned substance EPO in an out of competition test carried out by athletics’ governing body the IAAF.

McCormack is bidding to defend her national 10k title at the Great Ireland Run tomorrow. The Kilcoole athlete was 20th in the Olympic marathon in Rio and feels despite the negative publicity drugs brings to athletics, it’s ultimately better to meet the challenges head on unlike other sports. “It’s a good thing that people get caught, because like we all know, the sport is not really that clean,” said McCormack who takes on England’s Gemma Steel in the Phoenix Park tomorrow.