Athletics-World marathon champion Jepchirchir provisionally banned by AIU over EPO finding

​Kenya's world marathon champion Peres ​Jepchirchir has been provisionally ‌suspended after ​testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO in a sample taken before her Sydney Marathon ‌victory, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday. The AIU added that the out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO (erythropoietin), which ‌boosts the production of red blood cells.

"I can only say that I ‌feel terrible about what happened and I think it's only right that an athlete who uses the performance enhancing drugs should be disqualified," her agent Gianni Demadonna said in ⁠an ​emailed statement. The 33-year-old ⁠is a former Olympic champion and half-marathon world record holder as well as a four-times ⁠World Marathon Majors winner.

She won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and ​has also claimed major marathon victories in New York (2021), Boston (2022), London (2024) ⁠and Sydney (2026). Jepchirchir dominated the women's race in Sydney in August, pulling clear of the field ⁠to ​finish in 2:18:31, more than three minutes ahead of second-placed compatriot Irine Cheptai.

Last year, Kenya's women's marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich was ⁠banned for three years after admitting anti-doping rule violations involving hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a ⁠prohibited diuretic, though ⁠her world record of 2:09:56 remained on the books because it was set before her positive test.