Chepkirui, Kendagor latest victims in doping purge

The 2014 Commonwealth Games 10,000m gold medalist Joyce Chepkirui and the 2014 Valencia marathon champion Jacob Kibet Kendagor are the latest Kenyan athletes to be suspended for doping.

In a statement released today by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), Chepkirui was found to have used a prohibited substance after a scrutiny in her Athletes Biological Passport (ABP).

Chepkirui who hails from Kericho County has had success in both track and road races where she clinched silver in 1,500m at the 2011 All-Africa Games held in Marrakech,  Morocco before clinching the African Cross Country title a year later.

In 2014, Chepkirui clinched both the Commonwealth and African titles in 10000m before shifting to road races where she won a couple of half marathons including Barcelona and Bogota races.

In 2016, she finished runner up in the New York City Half marathon before finishing fourth in the New York City Marathon on the same year.

On his part, Kendagor was found guilty of evading, refusing or failing to submit sample contrary to the rules of AIU-a body under IAAF created to oversee integrity issues of the sport.

The latest development is a big blow in the fight against the fight in the country with Kenya still under Category ‘A’ of countries under IAAF watch list.

Already Athletics Kenya (AK) has stepped up the fight against the menace with the federation insisting that any athlete found to have doped will never represent the country in any competition even after completing their ban.