Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) started a year on a high note by banning Kenyan runner Faith Chepchirchir Kiprotich for three years.
The promising young marathoner tested positive for banned substance norandrosterone after she was suspended a week ago after admitting to her mistake, leading to a reduced ban.
“On 7 January 2025, the AIU gave the Athlete until no later than 9 January 2025 to provide any explanation for the Adverse Analytical Findings. On the same day, the Athlete requested an extension of the deadline, which was granted by the AIU until 15 January 2025,” the AIU said in their statement released on Tuesday.
“On 8 January 2025, the athlete wrote to the AIU stating that she accepted that the prohibited substance was found in her Samples, but that she could not remember how the substance entered her body.
“January 2025, the Athlete informed the AIU that she accepted the Consequences and on 11 January 2025, the AIU received an Admission of Anti-Doping Rule Violations and Acceptance of Consequences Form signed by the Athlete (dated 9 January 2025).
Kiprotich becomes the first Kenyan athlete to be handed a doping ban this year, with her suspension halting what was a promising athletics career.
The 23-year-old won the Lisbon Half Marathon last October, her second win of the season, after claiming the women’s 10 miles at the Tilburg Ten Miles in the Netherlands a month earlier