Kipyokei gets 6-year doping ban, loses Boston Marathon title

Kenyan marathoner Diana Kipyokei. Pic/AFP

Kenyan marathoner Diana Kipyokei has been banned for six years and stripped of her 2021 Boston Marathon title for doping and tampering, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Tuesday. Kipyokei's urine sample after winning in Boston in October 2021 had traces of triamcinolone acetonide " an anti-inflammatory prohibited at races when an athlete does not have permission to use it as a medication. The AIU said Kipyokei "provided false/misleading information" in trying to explain her use of the substance, "including fake documentation which she alleged came from a hospital."

The Boston Athletic Association announced that Kipyokei's result in the 2021 Boston Marathon has been disqualified, and that Edna Kiplagat of Kenya has been elevated to winner. Kiplagat is now recognized as a two-time Boston winner, having also won in 2017. The BAA had said in October that it would annul Kipyokei's result pending completion of the AIU investigation and sanction announcement.

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The AIU also announced that a second Kenyan marathoner, Purity Rionoripo, has received a five-year ban for similar offenses. Rionoripo won the 2017 Paris Marathon. Her sample taken in May in Kenya revealed the presence of furosemide, which is a diuretic. "In her explanation, she claimed to have been prescribed medication by a doctor at a hospital to treat an ankle injury and presented supporting documentation. However, investigations revealed that, though Rionoripo was treated at the hospital, she had altered her prescription form to include Lasix (the commercial name for furosemide)," the AIU said. Rionoripo could have been banned for six years but received a one-year reduction "due to an early admission and acceptance of the sanction," the AIU said.

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