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The 36-year-old marathoner has paid a heavy price as he will be out of action for eight years for use of a prohibited substance Nandrolone and lying to anti-doping officials
Kenyan long-distance runner Michael Njenga Kunyuga has been handed an eight-year doping ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for the use of a prohibited substance Nandrolone and tampering.
Njenga, the Padova Marathon champion, was slapped with a heavy suspension after lying to anti-doping officials following his provisional suspension in August this year.
The 36-year-old was nabbed at the 2022 Riga Marathon in Latvia, where he finished second after his samples tested positive for Nandrolone (19-nortestosterone).
AIU then began investigation into the case with the athlete given the option of accepting liability to benefit from a reduced suspension by one year but he denied all allegations.
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ATHLETICS: Michael Njenga provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit
Njenga had already been provisionally suspended for the presence/use of a Prohibited Substance (Norandrosterone).
The athlete claimed that he experienced knee and back pain in 2021 and took painkillers which had an adverse effect on his stomach, so he stopped taking them.
He further explained that, in January 2022, he had been advised to seek alternative medication for his knee pain because he could not manage his training load, so he went for a check-up at the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital and was prescribed injections of Depomedrol every three months.
To support his initial explanation, Njenga submitted two medical documents dated January 18, 2022, purporting to be from the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital, namely; a Laboratory Request and Report Form, and a letter from a doctor at the hospital, confirming that the athlete had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis and that he was to be treated by intramuscular injection of Depomedrol (methylprednisolone) and vitamin B complex every three months.
On September 1, 2022, the AIU wrote to the athlete noting that his explanation and documents related to ingestion of Depomedrol and vitamin B complex did not explain the presence of 19- Norandrosterone in his sample.
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Njenga then claimed he had been in Iten on April 18, 2022, and had sought medication for his knee pain there. The athlete alleged that he had attended the Iten County Referral Hospital on that date where ‘they looked for an alternative medication’ based on his description of his knee pain and that he had been injected.
However, while the Iten hospital confirmed he had visited the facility, it had no record of any prescription for the athlete in its drug system and there was no record of any injection being given to him. The hospital does not also stock Nandrolone. At the Nyahururu hospital, the central records department contained no trace of the athlete and it was concluded that he had provided false and misleading information to the AIU, leading to the heavy action.
“The AIU therefore remained satisfied that the athlete had committed Anti-Doping Rule Violations, and, on 15 September 2023, issued the athlete with a Notice of Charge in accordance with Rule 8.5.1 ADR and Article 7.1 ISRM confirming that he was being charged with Anti-Doping Rule Violations under Rule 2.1 ADR, Rule 2.2 ADR and Rule 2.5 ADR (the “Charge”) and that those Anti-Doping Rule Violations warranted a total period of Ineligibility of eight years pursuant to Rules 10.2.1 and 10.9.3(c),” the AIU said via a statement.
“ADR (i.e., four years for the Presence/Use of a Non-Specified Substance and a further four years for Tampering or Attempted Tampering during the Results Management of the Presence/Use Anti-Doping Rule Violations, to be served consecutively).”
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Njenga’s suspension will be backdated to August 2022 and it looks to have ended his career as he will be 43 by the time it ends.
The 36-year-old is the second Kenyan athlete to be handed a lengthy ban recently following suspension of Titus Erkiru for 10 years last month for using a banned substance and presenting fake documents.
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