He can run, but what does Australian track star Peter Bol have to hide?
After being sensationally suspended for a positive drug test earlier this year, it’s the question the 800m champion will finally answer on 7NEWS Spotlight at 9.00pm this Sunday on Channel 7 and 7plus.
Back in January, the headlines screamed his guilt the world over, while Athletics Australia reluctantly forced their pin-up boy to quit all competition and training after receiving the result from the anti-doping agency Sports Integrity Australia.
His crime? Unusually high levels of synthetic erythropoietin, or EPO, in a urine sample.
The drug? The same banned blood booster used by disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong and a string of track and field stars whose reputations now lie in ruins.
Defiant in his denials and determined to prove his innocence, Bol won a reprieve of sorts, when his B-sample testing was revealed this month: an ATF, atypical finding, neither positive or negative.
And so, the question lingers – is our national hero a drug cheat?
Now, in an explosive and exclusive interview with 7NEWS Spotlight host Michael Usher, the 29-year-old gets his chance to fight back, while his furious family unleash on the authorities who leaked Bol’s original and damaging drug test.
This special event episode will shock Bol’s many fans, re-ignite calls to change the way EPO tests are administered and debate whether this Sudanese-born star’s genes could also be to blame.
The program’s Executive Producer, Mark Llewellyn said: “7NEWS Spotlight is where the big interviews come, and there is none bigger than Peter Bol right now. Believe me, he doesn’t miss, as he confronts the claims that he is a drug cheat and aims up to the people and associations that were supposed to support him.”
7NEWS Spotlight: Peter Bol – 9.00pm Sunday on Channel 7 and 7plus
Media Release – Seven
