1st March, 2020
Former Africa Games 10,000m champion Kenneth Kiprop Kipkemoi is the latest elite athlete to be banned for failing an anti-doping test.
Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent body of the World Athletics, which is in charge of the fight against doping said Kipkemoi had prohibited substances in his sample and has effectively issued a charge against him.
In the meantime, he is not eligible to compete in any race as he faces a provisional suspension.
“Kipkemoi is the latest Kenyan to be suspended for a doping violation. There was the presence of prohibited substances (terbutaline) in his sample,” AIU said in a statement on Saturday.
Over 60 athletes have been nabbed in the last four years. Kenya is among the top four countries which have runners with the highest cases of doping; others are Ukraine, Ethiopia and Venezuela.
A World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report in September 2018 indicated that 138 Kenyan athletes tested positive from 2004 to August 2018.
In the last 90 days, nine Kenyans have been banned for doping-related charges.
Kipkemboi last won the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon with a personal best time of 2:05:44. (Xinhua/NAN)