Boston Marathon moves to recover prize money from Jeptoo

Boston Athletic Association (BAA) who organise among other races the annual Boston Marathon have instituted the process of recovering the winnings from 2014 winner Rita Jeptoo after her ban for EPO use was doubled following a ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The Boston Athletic Association has received the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision in the arbitration procedure between the IAAF, Athletics Kenya, and Rita Jeptoo.

“According to the decision by CAS, Rita Jeptoo’s result in the 2014 Boston Marathon is disqualified, and in conformance with IAAF rules the B.A.A. will seek to reclaim the winnings,” a brief statement posted on their website http://www.baa.org/ said.

“The B.A.A. will initiate a review of the 2014 Boston Marathon results and subsequent adjustments. The B.A.A. supports the decision by the CAS, the pursuit of fair competition, and justice for those who seek to gain unfair advantages,” it added.

BAA has organised the Boston Marathon since its inception in 1897 that is part of the World Marathon Majors elite circuit who also announced they had stripped Jeptoo of the 2013-14 title and awarded victory to compatriot and two-time world champion, Edna Kiplagat.

In their judgement, the CAS panel ruled that Jeptoo, 35, who has become the poster girl of Kenya’s doping scourge deliberately, used the banned blood booster to cheat her way to victory having acted outside the knowledge of her then coach, Italian Claudio Berardelli and his compatriot and former manager, Federico Rosa.

The court threw out her defence of being injected with the substance without her knowledge by a medic alleged to be Dr. Stephen Kipchumba Kiplagat alias Kalya at a clinic in Eldoret mid August 2014.

“The evidence for this includes inter alia her long relationship with the doctor in question, her multiple visits to see him, that her EPO use was consistent with her competition calendar, that she hid the visits to the doctor in question from her manager and coach, as well as her deceptive and obstructive conduct throughout the proceedings.

“Weighing all the evidence, the Panel is comfortably satisfied that the circumstances warrant a period of ineligibility of four years. Accordingly, Rita Jeptoo is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of four years starting on 30 October 2014, the date on which her provisional suspension started to run,” part of the CAS judgment read.

“The results of Ms Jeptoo in the 2014 Boston marathon and all other results as from 17 April 2014 (including the 2014 Chicago marathon) are disqualified pursuant to IAAF Rule 40.8, with all resulting consequences, including the forfeiture of the title, medal, prize money and any appearance money,” it added, paving the way for affected races to seek financial redress from the disgraced female marathon star.

Berardelli and Rosa are out on bail after being separately charged with conspiracy to injure the profession of a person in relation to the Jeptoo doping case.

Prosecutors opted to consolidate Beradelli’s case with that of Dr. Kiplagat and Daniel Cheribo Kiplangat who was an assistant coach to Jeptoo at the time she visited the medic for treatment where she was subsequently injected after supposedly being diagnosed with malaria and typhoid.

In light of the CAS ruling, it remains to be seen whether State Prosecutors will have enough to convict the coach and Rosa, his former employer at Rosa Associati or any of the five other locals accused of the same offence.