- Uta Pippig
Uta Pippig (born
September 7 ,1965 inLeipzig ) is a female long-distance runner, and the first woman to win theBoston Marathon three consecutive times (1994-1996). She also won theBerlin Marathon three times (1990, 1992 and 1995), theNew York City Marathon once (1993), and she represented Germany in the 1992 and1996 Olympics . Her best times include 15:03 for 5,000 meters, 31:21 for 10,000 meters, 67:58 for the half marathon and 2:21:45 for the marathon. Although she has maintained her innocence, Pippig has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.The daughter of two physicians, Pippig began running at the age of 13 while a citizen of the former
East Germany . In university, she was a medical student at the Free University Berlin where, after passing her final exams, she chose to re-focus her attention exclusively on running professionally. She left East Germany in 1990 beforeGerman reunification .In 1998, an out-of-competition drug test found Pippig had an elevated ratio of
testosterone toepitestosterone , and the German Athletics Federation attempted to ban her for two years. Pippig contested the finding on the grounds that her testosterone levels were normal, and that the elevated ratio was due to a low level of epitestosterone from a long battle with chronic bowel disease and other factors. This claim was supported by a variety of independent medical experts [In analyses, it was determined by independent specialists Dr. Robert Barbieri, the Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who is also an expert in hormones and the use of steroids, and Dr. Horst Lüppert, the Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Free University in Berlin, that Uta Pippig’s ratio imbalance was not due to high levels of testosterone, but rather low levels of epitestosterone.Fact|date=June 2008 Separate expert opinions from both Dr. Barbieri and Dr. Lübbert, independently concluded that the use of oral contraceptives and active bowel disease both raise the T:E ratio. Fact|date=June 2008 According to Dr. Barbieri, “The T:E ratio is not valid for women on oral contraceptives with active bowel disease.” According to Dr. Barbieri, “In April 1998, at or around the time that a urine specimen was taken for androgen matabolite analysis, Ms. Pippig was on oral contraceptive pills and had active bowel disease.” a) Letter from Dr. Horst Lübbert to German Track and Field Association, October 1, 1998. b) Letter from Dr. Robert Barbieri to Messieurs David Merz and Jens Peter Ketels, January 22, 1999] , and a German arbitration court ultimately dismissed the case. [In an interview published in the August 9, 2000 issue of Der Tagespiegel, Judge Dr. Eike Ullmann, who chaired the panel of judges that decided on the Uta Pippig vs. DLV case in the arbitration proceedings of the German Sports Federation (DSB), concluded, “De facto there was a ban (on Uta Pippig competing), but its existence has not been legally justified.”] Fact|date=June 2008Pippig obtained American citizenship in 2004, and now holds an American passport. In 2005, she was named to the Board of Advisors of the MIT AgeLab. In 2006, she founded [http://www.uta-pippig.com Take The Magic Step, LLC] , an international health and fitness philanthropic organization.
References
External links
* [http://www.uta-pippig.com Official Website of Uta Pippig]
* [http://graphics.boston.com/marathon/history/1996.htm Boston Globe Article on Uta]ee also
*
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
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