Jeptoo doping case Kenya’s most serious so far?
NAIROBI — Kenya’s athletics federation will hold a hearing for Rita Jeptoo next Thursday, with the marathon runner ordered to attend along with two coaches and her agent as the East African country investigates its latest and possibly most damaging doping case.
NAIROBI — Kenya’s athletics federation will hold a hearing for Rita Jeptoo next Thursday, with the marathon runner ordered to attend along with two coaches and her agent as the East African country investigates its latest and possibly most damaging doping case.
Athletics Kenya (AK) said in a statement that its medical and anti-doping commission will conduct the hearing at the federation’s headquarters in Nairobi.
“We are hoping the hearing will shed light on who is behind this doping scam and Jeptoo will hopefully tell us what happened,” AK President Isaiah Kiplagat said, according to South African website supersport.com.
Jeptoo, a three-time Boston Marathon winner and two-time Chicago Marathon champion, failed an out-of-competition doping test in Kenya in September.
Weeks later, she claimed her second straight title in Chicago.
She was set to be crowned winner of the World Marathon Majors series when it was revealed that she had failed the test. Her backup “B” sample also came back positive in tests last month at the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Lausanne.
Two senior AK officials said the 33-year-old tested positive for the blood booster EPO.
In its statement, AK said it had also “summoned” coaches Claudio Berardelli and Noah Busienei, and Jeptoo’s agent Federico Rosa to the Jan 15 hearing.
Jeptoo faces a two-year ban. She is the highest-profile Kenyan athlete to fail a doping test.
Her case came as the country was already under close scrutiny after a recent spike in doping cases.
Speaking to the Associated Press in the days after Jeptoo’s first failed test was announced, Rosa denied the athlete’s involvement in doping.
Kenya’s doping problems were first highlighted in 2012 by German broadcaster ARD, which alleged that there was widespread doping among Kenyan athletes.
The ARD allegations led to pressure on Kenya from the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate and a government-appointed commission reported last year that there were no effective doping controls. AP
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