World Marathon Champion Peres Jepchirchir suspended by AIU
World Marathon Champion Peres Jepchirchir suspended by AIU
Kenyan marathon star Peres Jepchirchir has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
In a statement on Friday, October 23, the agency said the decision was arrived at after an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), a substance associated with enhancing athletic performance.
The AIU confirmed that the reigning world champion and former Olympic champion had returned an adverse analytical finding for the prohibited substance.
“The AIU has provisionally suspended reigning World and former Olympic champion, Peres Jepchirchir, after an out-of-competition sample, collected in Kenya prior to her recent Sydney Marathon victory, returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO,” the statement read.
Jepchirchir is a former world record-holder in the half-marathon and a four-time winner of major marathons.
Her victories include the Sydney Marathon in 2026, the London Marathon in 2024, the Boston Marathon in 2022 and the New York Marathon in 2021.
The Sydney Marathon organisers also expressed disappointment following the announcement, confirming that the sample in question had been collected before the race held on August 30.
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“The TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS is extremely disappointed to learn that Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), after an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya prior to the TCS Sydney Marathon, held on 30 August 2026, returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO,” the organisers said in a statement.
Despite the development, the organisers emphasised that Jepchirchir remained entitled to due process and said they would refrain from making further comments while the case was being handled.
“Jepchirchir is entitled to due process, and we will make no further comment on the case until that process has concluded,” the statement added.
The organisers further highlighted the potential consequences of a doping violation under the Abbott World Marathon Majors rules.
“Under Abbott World Marathon Majors rules, any athlete banned for a doping offence of three months or more is banned for life from all eight Majors,” the statement further read.
A provisional suspension is an interim measure pending the conclusion of the applicable anti-doping process and does not, by itself, constitute a final determination of an anti-doping rule violation.
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