Doping Spotlight on America as Third Athlete is Suspended This Month

American marathoner Shadrack Biwott has received a four-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for erythropoietin (EPO).

The 40-year-old tested positive just days before the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials.

Biwott, who was born in Kenya, is a decorated runner with a seventh-place finish at the 2016 US. Olympic Marathon Trials and a third-place finish at the 2018 Boston Marathon.

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The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) conducted an out-of-competition test on January 25, 2024. This was shortly before the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida, where Biwott did not finish the race, dropping out after 15 miles. USADA confirmed the positive test on February 23 and immediately issued a provisional suspension.

Biwott requested that his B sample be tested, which also returned a positive result for EPO on March 18, 2024.

The USADA report noted that his blood test also showed an adverse analytical finding. EPO is a performance-enhancing substance banned under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code because it increases the body's oxygen-carrying capacity, thereby boosting endurance.

The case resolution was delayed for nearly 18 months after an arbitrator granted Biwott's request to investigate the source of the positive test while he remained provisionally suspended.

He contested the validity of the laboratory analysis, but four independent scientists from around the world reviewed the sample and unanimously confirmed the presence of EPO.

Biwott's four-year ban is retroactive to February 23, 2024, the date his provisional suspension began.

All of his competitive results from January 25, 2024, have been disqualified, requiring him to forfeit any medals, points, and prize money. He will be 43 years old when his suspension ends in 2028.

Biwott’s case is the third doping-related suspension in the US this month after Marvin Bracy-Williams and former world 100m champion Fred Kerley were provisionally suspended over various anti-doping rule violations.