NEW YORK (AP) — Runner’s World is reporting that American runner and Olympian Eddy Hellebuyck has admitted to doping during his career.
Hellebuyck was banned for two years in 2004 after he tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition drug test. At the time, he insisted that he had not used performance-enhancing drugs.
In a story on the magazine’s website, Hellebuyck says he began using the blood-booster EPO in 2001 at the age of 40. While doping, he finished 10th overall and was the top American finisher at the 2003 Boston Marathon. He also won the 2003 Twin Cities marathon.
Hellebuyck says he made an “awful mistake.”
A native of Belgium who competed for that country in the 1996 Olympics, Hellebuyck became a U.S. citizen in 1999.
