The Commonwealth Games medalist was suspended for eight years by the sports tribunal after a banned substance was found in his body. He also tampered with, or attempted to tamper with, part of the doping control process, the Sports Tribunal reports.
The Tribunal suspended him for four years for the presence and use or attempted use of the banned substance Erythropoietin (EPO) and another four years for tampering.
Speaking on the Runner’s Only podcast with Dom Harvey, Robertson opened up about why he decided to cheat, claiming it was a “one off.”
“It was a pretty depressing and devastating day for me,” he said on the podcast.
“There are many reasons and it’s just not one specific reason. I hate it so much it was just a one time hit and I got caught. It’s been building on me for a few years now. Frustration and anger at the sport itself and all the top sports, I just believe it’s not a level playing field as they say.
“I started asking myself this question: why do people like me always have to be the ones who lose or suffer. In the end we lose our contracts, we lose our income, we lose our race winnings and eventually we give up not having the opportunity to start a family… that was one of the reasons.
He added that personal and professional problems – including a “nasty divorce” – also drove him to doping.
“The other [reason], especially after the Covid era, prize money and races went down. Contracts were also nearly scrapped. After the Olympics I was told by one of my companies that we thought you would run better, and an immediate termination of the deal.
“Nothing seemed to cross my path. I also had a lot of background noise outside of the current year… I spent a lot of my savings trying to survive. I was taking care of myself and my wife at the time… we already knew we were going through a divorce period. It was a nasty divorce procedure.
“One thing led to another and I was under a lot of stress. I made some bad decisions in a very dark time.
He said EPO “helps the red blood cells develop more in the body.”
“That produces more oxygen pushed through the body so you can run faster for longer without feeling it,” he told the podcast.
When asked why the public should believe him when he says it was “one off”, Robertson replied: “I’ve been tested over 50 times in my career and after every race I’ve ever competed in well. I’ve tested for the races, after the races, and my monsters are kept for the next 10 years after the events… There have been no problems with my previous monsters.
Robertson won bronze in the 5000 meters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and finished 12th in the 10,000 meters at the Olympics two years later.
Known for training in Kenya with his twin brother Jake, he rose to the marathon distance and finished 36th at the Tokyo Olympics.