Kenyan road racer handed four-year doping ban as ADAK continues to tighten noose

Kenyan road racer handed four-year doping ban as ADAK continues to tighten noose

Joel Omotto 19:08 - 13.05.2024

Kenyan long-distance runner Stephen Kipchirchir Kiplagat is the latest to join the growing list of shame after being handed a four-year suspension over doping.

Kenyan long-distance runner Stephen Kipchirchir Kiplagat is set to serve a four-year ban over an anti-doping rule violation.

The Sports Disputes Tribunal has agreed with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) that the athlete should be punished having been found to have used banned substance Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS)/Pregnanediol, Androsterone and Etiocholanolone.

Kipchirchir was provisionally suspended by ADAK in March 2023 after his sample returned a positive test for the banned substance and he did not provide enough proof that he had no intention to cheat when the matter was filed at the tribunal.

During the hearing that was conducted virtually in November 2023, Kipchirchir claimed he had used traditional medicine given to him by his mother but also later testified that he visited to a pharmacy whose contact he lost after the loss of his phone under unfortunate circumstances.

However, he failed to prove that he did not willingly commit an Anti-Doping Rule Violation or that the violation committed was intentional, among other things that were being considered, leaving the tribunal with no option but to slap him with a ban.

“In conclusion, based on the evidence and legal framework presented, the respondent is subject to a four-year ineligibility sanction for the intentional anti-doping rule violation,” read part of the tribunal’s ruling.

“The period of ineligibility shall be from the date of mandatory Provisional Suspension for a period of four (4) years starting 18th April 2023 to 17th April 2027. Disqualification of any and/or all of the Athlete’s competitive results from 18th December 2022.”

Kipchirchir has featured in a number of road races such as the Running Loire Valley, Tours in France, which he won in 2019, the same year he ran the Sevilla Marathon as well as the Eldoret City Marathon.