Ethiopian distance runner Bone Cheluke has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), as announced on Wednesday, December 17.
She tested positive for a steroid via IRMS.
In 2021, Cheluke picked up a silver medal in the mixed relay; she also has a gold from 2019 and a silver from the 2017 editions of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships. Meanwhile, her marathon personal best is 2:24:37 from the 2022 Košice Peace Marathon, which takes place in Košice, Slovakia. She finished in third place; otherwise, she has run the marathon two other times in 2:26:13 and 2:31:31, respectively.
Cheluke was paid at least €2,000 for the bronze-medal performance in Slovakia in 2022. Prize money at the World Cross Country Championships paid by World Athletics can be $6000 or $8000 for a silver or bronze position finish. The Ethiopian government also pays performance bonuses. For example, after the 2019 championships, the EAF paid over 650,000 Ethiopian birr in total to the team.
Minimum wage in Ethiopia is 5040 birr/annually. Teachers make 57,000 birr per year. One Ethiopian birr is worth 0.0064 US dollars.
On December 11, she turned 28. A not so happy birthday, and Merry Ganna to her.
From 2017 to 2024, Cheluke had the pleasure of travelling throughout the world to race. She luxuriated on the sights and happenings in such far-flung locales as Mexico, Germany, Hungary, China, the Netherlands, and Spain, picking up prize money along the way.
What is IRMS
In drug testing, IRMS stands for Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry. This is a newer analytical process and a critical tool used to determine the origin of certain substances in an athlete’s body. IRMS specifically differentiates between naturally produced (endogenous) steroids and synthetically derived (exogenous) performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Steroids in the body have a differing “fingerprint” when generated naturally versus exogenously.
