Marathon champion Jepchirchir provisionally suspended over EPO finding

Kenyan marathon runner Peres Jepchirchir has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after an out-of-competition sample taken in Kenya returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO. The sample was collected before she won the Sydney Marathon, but the suspension does not itself overturn that result.

Jepchirchir, 33, won the women’s race in Sydney on 30 August in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds, finishing three minutes and 40 seconds ahead of the runner-up. She is the reigning world marathon champion and won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021. EPO is a prohibited substance that stimulates red blood cell production and can improve endurance.

The provisional suspension prevents Jepchirchir from competing while the anti-doping case proceeds; it is not a final ruling that she committed a violation. Her agent, Gianni Demadonna, told Reuters he felt terrible about the case and said athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs should be disqualified. He told LetsRun he was shocked and could not say whether Jepchirchir had accepted the suspension.

Sydney Marathon organisers said Jepchirchir was entitled to due process and that they would not comment further until it had concluded. Under the World Marathon Majors rules cited in their statement, an athlete banned for a doping offence for three months or more is barred for life from all eight Majors.