The man who beat Tallent in Rio caught up in doping probe

The man who beat Jared Tallent to the 50km walk gold medal at the Rio Olympics is being investigated for doping.

Australia’s Jared Tallent and Slovakia’s Matej Toth competing in the 50km walk at the Rio Olympics. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The man who beat Australia’s luckless champion walker Jared Tallent to the 50km walk gold medal at the Rio Olympics is being investigated for doping and has withdrawn from next month’s world championships in London.

Slovakia’s Matej Toth, who relegated Tallent to the silver medal at both last year’s Olympics and the 2015 world titles, has released a statement revealing that the international athletics federation (IAAF) has asked him to explain anomalies in his athlete biological passport.

If the IAAF does not accept his explanation and pursues him for doping, Tallent could inherit a second consecutive Olympic gold medal years after the fact.

The passport tracks biological markers over time based on an athlete’s blood and urine tests and identifies any abnormal results that could be caused by doping.

Toth said he was “shocked’’ to be notified of the issue by the IAAF and was mentally and physically drained from dealing with the process on inquiry.

“Since I have always stood up against any unfair practices throughout my career I totally rule out any misconduct,’’ he said.

“That is why I am now concentrating with the help of respected world experts from different fields to confirm the natural physiological state of the result in my body.”

Tallent will be upset by this news.

He has waged a campaign against the Russian walking team for doping but said all along that he believed that Toth was clean.

He received the 2012 Olympic gold medal just two months before the Rio Olympics after the man who crossed the finish line first in London, Russian Sergey Kirdyapkin, was retrospectively banned for doping.

Tallent led the Rio race with 10km to go but Toth surged and overtook him in the last 4km to take the gold medal.

At the time Tallent applauded the result, believing that the three men who won the medals had achieved them without doping.

“We’re going to have a clean podium again,” Tallent said after that race. “Very different to London; there’s no suspicions this time around.”

Tallent was made aware of Toth’s situation last night but he did not want to comment until the investigation had concluded.

He is about to leave for Switzerland for a last high-altitude training camp before the world titles start in London on August 4.

In Toth’s absence, the 32-year-old Australian will start as the favourite to win the world title, having finished second in five major championships since 2008.