By Pearl Josephine Nazare
Oct 23 (Reuters) – Kenya’s world marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO in a sample taken before her Sydney Marathon victory, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday.
The AIU added that the out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO (erythropoietin), which boosts the production of red blood cells.
“I can only say that I feel terrible about what happened and I think it’s only right that an athlete who uses the performance enhancing drugs should be disqualified,” her agent Gianni Demadonna said in an emailed statement.
The 33-year-old is one of the most decorated women in the sport, having won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and having claimed major marathon victories in New York (2021), Boston (2022), London (2024) and Sydney (2026). She previously held the half marathon world record.
Jepchirchir is the latest in a long string of Kenyan athletes to fall foul of doping rules. More than 140 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned since the AIU was established in 2017.
“So much of that I see when I’m on a broadcast call I do not believe. I’m not surprised by this,” said Olympic 10,000 metres silver medallist and broadcaster Kara Goucher, who was a whistleblower in the Nike Oregon Project case.
“I am, however, sad for all the athletes who finished behind her and were screwed out of a podium.”
Jepchirchir dominated the women’s race in Sydney in August, pulling clear of the field to finish in 2:18:31, more than three minutes ahead of second-placed compatriot Irine Cheptai.
The Sydney Marathon, which was added to the list of world majors beginning in 2025, said it was “extremely disappointed” by the news.
“Our commitment to clean sport is unwavering. Every athlete who lines up in Sydney deserves to race on a level playing field,” it said in a statement.
Last year, Kenya’s women’s marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich was banned for three years after admitting anti-doping rule violations involving hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a prohibited diuretic, though her world record of 2:09:56 remained on the books because it was set before her positive test.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Amy Tennery in New York;editing by Philippa Fletcher and Ken Ferris)
