Abbott World Marathon Majors statement on Sunday Times reports

We're aware of the most recent news from the Sunday Times and consider these latest reports very concerning. We have followed this issue closely since the initial publication, and have been in discussion on the implications with the IAAF and other partners.

We founded the Abbott World Marathon Majors, in 2006, to support and move forward efforts to keep the sport clean as well as keep a year-round, global focus on athletes that train and compete at the highest levels.

We are committed to an aggressive stance against doping. We want doping eradicated. Under AWMM rules, no athlete who has been in breach of IAAF anti-doping rules can win an Abbott World Marathon Majors Series title or is invited to participate in an AWMM race. In addition, in an unprecedented move announced earlier this year, the $500,000 prize money awarded to the winner of each Series will now be distributed over a five-year period, rather than a lump sum, to ensure effective long term biological mapping of athletes.

And, as announced recently, we initiated efforts with the IAAF to expand global out-of-competition drug testing on an elite athlete pool.

As has been clarified by the London Marathon, the six races that make up AWMM � Tokyo, Boston, Virgin Money London, BMW Berlin, Bank of America Chicago and the TCS New York City Marathons � provide funding for, but do not administer the post-race and out-of-competition testing of athletes. We must rely on the IAAF, as well as the country athletic federations and anti-doping organizations, to collect and provide results of the blood and urine tests they execute for our races and inform us of adverse results.

Any time we, as race directors, have been informed of doping, it has been deeply disappointing. We have taken all the actions we can and will continue to look at additional ways we as leaders can identify partners to help us eliminate cheating from our sport.

We will continue our work to maintain the integrity of our races and respect the efforts of the hundreds of thousands of runners who participate in them every year.

Tim Hadzima
General Manager
Abbott World Marathon Majors