Kenyan athlete Kangogo handed two-year ban by AIU

Kenya’s long-distance athlete Philip Cheruiyot Kangogo has been handed a two-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for an anti-doping violation.

According to AIU, Kangogo has been slapped with the ban for the presence of a banned substance Higamine – under article 2.1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.

The athlete was subjected to in-competition testing at the PZU Cracovia Marathon held in Krakow, Poland with the WADA accredited laboratory in Warsaw confirming the presence of Higenamine in the Sample.

In Kangogo’s response to AIU, he did not dispute the presence of the substance but at the same time explained that it was not intentional. However, he failed to provide details on the supplements he used prior to the race.

After failing to satisfy AIU in the subsequent correspondences that also involved Athletics Kenya, the athlete was thus handed the ban which takes effect from July 31, 2019.

Kangogo won the 2014 Kass Marathon title and was the first runners up at the 2018 Eldoret City Marathon.

The 36-year-old joins a long list of Kenyan athletes who have already been suspended or banned since the start of the year.

Former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang, Alex Oloitiptip, Mercy Kibarus and Kenneth Kipkemoi have already been banned while Commonwealth Games 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi, Patrick Siele as well as former London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru have been suspended and are currently waiting for a ruling.