NAIROBI - World marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir has been provisionally suspended for doping.
This was announced by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday.
The highly decorated 33-year-old Kenyan, who won Olympic gold in the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, was suspended after an out-of-competition sample tested positive for banned blood booster EPO.
Jepchirchir joins more than 140 Kenyan athletes, including current women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich, who have been suspended or banned by the AIU since 2017.
The AIU said Jepchirchir's out-of-competition sample had been collected in Kenya prior to her recent Sydney Marathon victory.
Jepchirchir's lauded career has also seen her as a former world record-holder in the half-marathon while she is a four-time World Marathon Major winner having captured the Sydney Marathon (2026), the London Marathon (2024), the Boston Marathon (2022) and the New York Marathon (2021).
The decision of World Athletics to award Nairobi the 2029 world championships is likely to increase the scrutiny of the east African nation's anti-doping policies.
Barnabas Korir, Athletics Kenya Youth Development Director and National Olympic Committee of Kenya vice president, said he was left feeling shocked by the news of the suspension.
"It's a big disappointment coming soon after we were awarded the World Athletics Championship in 2029," Korir told AFP.
"We are in shock, especially in the calibre of Peres Jepchirchir after a stellar career.
"We don't know what is happening with our athletes."
Kenya played host to a three-day visit from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) earlier this month, the body's chief Witold Banka telling the country that it had to strive for zero tolerance on doping.
"Kenya proudly calls itself the Home of Champions. But for that home to remain respected and credible, it must also be clean," Banka said.
"That is why Kenya needs a strong culture of clean sport, zero tolerance for doping, and a more determined approach to preventing and fighting doping."
Banka said that joint cooperation with Kenyan authorities would help lay the foundations for a cleaner sport.
-AFP