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The 26-year-old will await his fate after being sanctioned and faces a possible four-year ban if he is found culpable
Atlanta Half Marathon champion Nicholas Kosimbei is the latest Kenyan runner to be sanctioned over doping after being suspended provisionally by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Tuesday.
Kosimbei, who set a course record in Atlanta last year, has been suspended for the presence and use of a prohibited substance trimetazidine.
Not much details have been provided regarding when the long-distance runner was nabbed but he will not be featuring in any competition as he awaits his fate.
“The AIU has provisionally suspended Nicholas Mboroto Kosimbei (Kenya) for the presence/use of a Prohibited Substance (Trimetazidine),” AIU said in a brief statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday.
Trimetazidine is a medicine used to prevent angina attacks, which are sudden pains to the chest, jaw and back brought on by physical effort, due to reduced blood flow to the heart.
It has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited substances since 2014. It is currently categorised as a "hormone and metabolic modulator," which is illegal for athletes to use both in and out of competition
Kosimbei wrote history on his US debut as he smashed the race course record of the Atlanta Half Marathon, leading a 1-2-3 Kenyan podium finish as he crashed, he took off over three minutes off the previous course record of 1:03.59 that had been set the previous year by American Abdisamed Abdi.
The 26-year-old had gone to the race with a set mind of taking an early lead and going through the 10km mark in a time of 28:42, he maintained his steady lead of almost 30 seconds in front of Raymond Magut and Geoffrey Koech.
A provisional suspension is when an athlete is temporarily barred from participating in any competition or activity prior to a final decision at a hearing conducted under the WADA rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct.
Kosimbei faces a possible four-year ban, if he is found culpable, although his punishment could be reduced to three years if he admits to the offence as witnessed recently with Botswana’s Nijel Amos.
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