Doping: Diana Kipyokei banned for six years and stripped of Boston title
Diana Kipyokei has been stripped of her Boston title. The 28-year-old marathon runner has been banned for six years for doping.
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Doping threatens to tarnish the image of Kenyan athletics. At least sixty athletes have been caught in recent months. After testing positive for triamcinolone acetonide, Diana Kipyokei has been stripped of her Boston Marathon title. The 28-year-old gave a sample after her victory last October. She will serve a six-year ban, backdated to 27 June 2022.
The marathon runner is also accused of obstructing the investigation by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). " With the investigative assistance of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, the AIU found that Kipyokei had provided false/misleading information in trying to explain her AAF, including fake documents which, she claimed, came from a hospital ", the AIU statement said.
https://twitter.com/aiu_athletics/status/1605220447871766531
Kenya risk suspension
The AIU also announced a five-year ban for another Kenyan athlete, Purity Cherotich Rionoripo. Rionoripo's ban follows the presence of the diuretic furosemide in an out-of-competition test carried out in Kenya in May. Like Kipyokei, the 29-year-old runner has also been found guilty of trying to tamper with the evidence against her. " In her explanation, she claimed to have been prescribed medication by a hospital doctor to treat an ankle injury and submitted supporting documents. Investigations revealed that, although Rionoripo had been treated at the hospital, she had altered her prescription form ", the AIU reports.
Faced with a surge in doping cases, the Kenyan athletics federation risks suspension. Ababu Namwamba, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, has meanwhile written to the president of World Athletics, to assure him that the Kenyan government was taking firm action to uphold the integrity of athletics. The Kenyan government has indeed pledged to pay 4.5 million euros a year, which would reportedly have helped avert a sanction from governing body World Athletics. " This is a crucial first step that could be a game changer, because it will allow the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya and the Kenyan athletics federation to have proportionate resources to play their part in the fight against doping ", said AIU head Brett Clothier.
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