Gold medallist Poland's Pawel Fajdek poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's Hammer Throw at the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha on October 3, 2019. / AFP / KARIM JAAFAR
IAAF World Championships gold medal winner in the hammer throw Pawel Fajdek is keen to educate the younger generation of athletes the importance of ‘clean performance’ having paid the price of doping during his career.
Fajdek, who won a record fourth successive gold at the World Championships, regrets a phase of his sporting career which saw him been banned for drugs.
“It’s (drugs) very far from me. I know I did wrong, but now it’s past” said the Pole.
“There are no scientific proofs that doping affects athletes long-term,” added Fajdek “I was 20-year-old, comparing to 27 I am today. It was a really bad period of my life,” added Fajdek, while reflecting on that phase of his life which saw him on the sidelines for two years on account of the ban from 2014 to 2016.
Fajdek said he has come clean on the drugs now and is actively involved in educating the younger athletes the importance of ‘clean performance’ “I worked so hard with a new coach and new methods. Nowadays I have many-many visits of anti-doping officials during the year. I do many things in my federation to explain for the younger generation the importance of clean performances,” he said.
On Wednesday at the Khalifa Stadium, Quentin Bigot of France finished second behind Fajdek followed by Bence Halasz of Hungary.
Fajdek was delighted to pick up the gold medal in Doha.
“It’s a nice day to be a world champion. I’ve done it four times now and made history, and that means a lot. I had a really big injury. I was training since March so it is impressive win for me, and maybe for everyone.”
