Steve Hooker has quit his duties as commentator for Network Ten‘s Commonwealth Games coverage, after his athlete wife Ekaterina Kostetskaya was handed a drug band from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Kostetskaya, a Russian-born 1500m runner was charged for “use/attempted use of a prohibited substance/method” at the 2011 world championships in Daegu where she finished fifth in the 800m. She received a two-year ban and isn’t eligible to compete again until January 20, 2015.
Ten presenter Matt White announced on air on Thursday morning Australian time that Hooker wasn’t aware of the information prior to it being logged on the agency’s website and that he would return to Melbourne to be with his wife and their 1-year-old son.
“Steve’s priority is his family and he has left Glasgow to be with his wife, Ekaterina, and son Maxim. He has delivered brilliant commentary for the Games, and Network Ten fully supports his decision,” said the statement from Ten.
Former Canadian world record holder and Olympic gold medal winner Donovan Bailey will join Ten’s commentary team for the remainder of the Games.
Hooker and Kostetskaya met at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and married in 2012.
Hooker retired from athletics in April 2014, choosing to focus his time on his family. ‘I can now spend time supporting Katya in achieving what she wants in her career,” he said at the time. “She has done so much already but she has results that suggest she is more than capable of doing more and I want to be able to assist as much as I can in making that happen.”
