Marathon: World champion Peres Jepchirchir faces ban after positive doping test

Jepchirchir also won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed by a year due to the pandemic. She previously held the world record in the half marathon, and Jepchirchir also won the major marathon races in London (2024), Boston (2022) and New York (2021).

According to the AIU, Jepchirchir's sample was taken while training in Kenya before she won the Sydney Marathon on August 30. "We are in shock, especially given the caliber of Peres Jepchirchir and her outstanding career," Barnabas Korir from the Kenya Athletics Association told the AFP news agency.

World record holder already caught

Kenya has been faced with an increasing number of doping cases for several years. Since 2017, more than 140 Kenyan athletes have been banned or excluded from competitions for using banned substances. Among them is Ruth Chepngetich, the world record holder in the marathon.

Kenya recently won the 2029 World Athletics Championships, which will be the first championships on the African continent. “These championships will help us in our efforts to make Kenyan athletics cleaner,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe recently said.

»Kenya proudly describes itself as the home of champions. In order for this reputation to be maintained and be credible, athletics there must also be clean," said Witold Banka, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), during a recent visit to the country: "That is why Kenya needs a strong culture of clean sport, zero tolerance for doping and a more decisive approach to preventing and combating it."