Earlier this week, news circulated that New Zealand Record Holder Zane Robertson had been served an eight-year athletic ban after testing positive for Erythropoietin (EPO) and submitting fraudulent defense documents to Drug Free Sport New Zealand. Now, his brother, Jake (who’s also a distance runner), has spoken out about how his twin’s decisions have affected his career and mental well-being.
On Instagram yesterday, Jake shared that his brother’s doping activities have caused issues for his family and his career. “(The) actions of my brother have unfortunately caused myself and my immediate family a great amount of anguish and financial loss,” he wrote. “It seems that people have lumped me together with my brother, as if we were physically joined at the hip, but being a twin doesn’t mean that we automatically think or do the same things.”
His association with Zane has led to online abuse and the loss of a sponsorship deal, reports Stuff, a breaking news outlet in New Zealand. “Simply put, I should not suffer the consequences for my brother’s mistakes and I should not be held accountable for his wrong doings,” Jake, who consistently runs sub-61-minute half marathons on the world stage, added.
He also explained that he’d spent the last few days considering how to move forward in his sport and life in the aftermath of the scandal. “Am I angry and upset with my brother? Absolutely. Am I pissed that I’ve been dragged into this, in a sense? Yes. I am pissed off. But anger won’t help me and it’s already taken me some days to try to put my feelings down on paper,” he wrote in a second Instagram post.
Jake’s not the only twin with something to say this week. Zane appeared on the Runners Only! with Dom Harvey podcast to reflect on his decisions now that he has officially retired from the sport. “I hate it so much that… it’s just a one-off hit, and I got caught… It’s been building on me for a few years, frustration and anger at the sport itself. And at any elite sports, I just believe the top is not a level playing field like they say… I’ve asked myself this week—why do people like myself always have to be the ones to lose or suffer.”
Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness journalist living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Shape, and others.
