During the 1983 movie Scarface, Michelle Pfeiffer’s character Elvira Hancock poignantly delivers a play on words. She took the classic phrase, “Nothing succeeds like success,” attributed to Alexandre Dumas and requoted as, “Nothing exceeds like excess.” While she was referring to Al Pacino’s character Tony Montana, she just as well may have been referring to Tanzanian athlete Jackline Sakilu.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned Sakilu for 10 years, starting September 17, 2025, for the presence or use of a cocktail of prohibited substances. These include androsterone, etiocholanolone, 5αAdiol, 5βAdiol, and metabolites of testosterone. Results are disqualified from June 29, 2024.
On March 16, 2025, the athlete provided a urine sample in competition at the Seoul Marathon, held in South Korea.
Following a request for reanalysis of the first sample, on September 12, 2025, the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”) accredited laboratory in Seoul, South Korea, reported an Adverse Analytical Finding in the first sample based on the presence of the above mentioned slurry.
In the meantime, on August 5, 2025, the Sakilu had provided a sample in Arusha, Tanzania.
On August 13, 2025, a WADA-accredited laboratory in Paris, France, reported an Adverse Analytical Finding in the second sample
based on the presence of the same drugs consistent with exogenous origin.
During the summer of 2025, she provided two more out-of-competition samples, both of which came back positive for androsterone, etiocholanolone, 5αAdiol and 5βAdiol.
Sakilu holds the national half-marathon record at 1:06:05, set in 2024 at the Ras Al Khaimah half-marathon in the United Arab Emirates. She finished sixth in the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Uganda. In 2023, she had dramatic improvements in her performances, moving from 2:37:55 personal best to 2:26:50, then 2:21:27. At that time, her half-marathon best improved from 1:12:43 to 1:06:05.
Dimitriana Bezede
The AIU also banned shot put and discus thrower, Dimitriana Bezede of Moldova, for 12 months from 1 July 2025 for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Letrozole). The results from March 8, 2025 and on were disqualified.
The athlete provided a sample in competition at the 2025 European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
The sample was sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”) accredited laboratory in Kreischa, Germany. The laboratory revealed the presence of a Metabolite of letrozole. Letrozole is a banned substance at all times according to WADA.
Bezede was given a 12-month suspension due to the quick admission of fault and the legitimate subscription for use. Bezese, however, did not have a Therapeutic Use Exemption and was later denied one by WADA.
