Huge Blow for Kenya as 'Olympian' Bernard Kibet Koech Handed Four-Year Doping Ban

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has confirmed four years of ineligibility for Kenyan long-distance runner Benard Kibet Koech following a landmark Disciplinary Tribunal decision.

Bernard Koech, 26, who famously finished fifth in the 10,000m at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was found guilty of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) related to blood manipulation.

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The case centred on Bernard Kibet Koech’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), a digital record used to monitor an athlete’s biomarkers over time to detect indirect evidence of doping.

A panel of independent experts identified a ‘distinct sequence of abnormalities’ in blood samples collected between June and July 2024, just weeks before the Olympic Games.

The tribunal noted that Bernard Kibet Koech’s haemoglobin (HGB) levels and ‘OFF-score’, a metric sensitive to blood manipulation, showed extreme deviations.

One specific sample was flagged as an outlier even at a statistical specificity of 99.99%. The expert panel concluded that these values were: "Highly likely [to have] been used and that it is unlikely that the Passport is the result of any other cause, such as environmental factors or a medical condition".

Bernard Koech denied the charges, maintaining he had never used Prohibited Substances like EPO. His defence argued that the spikes in his blood data were the result of a ‘perfect storm’ of three factors, including a mild COVID-19 infection starting in late June 2024, prescribed oral iron supplementation, and training at high altitude in Eldoret, Kenya.

However, the tribunal found Bernard Kibet Koech’s claims regarding COVID-19 to be 'unsubstantiated'. Despite Koech describing the illness as the ‘worst’ of his life, he provided no contemporaneous PCR test results or medical records, despite such testing being freely available near his training camp.

Furthermore, scientific experts noted that a mild viral infection would typically lower haemoglobin rather than increase it.

The tribunal ruled that the timing of the abnormalities strongly suggested a ‘coherent doping scenario’ designed to provide a performance benefit during the final preparation phase for the Olympics while minimising the risk of detection.

As a result, Bernard Kibet Koech has now been banned for four years, starting from the date of the award. The period he has already served under provisional suspension since June 10, 2025, will be credited.

Bernard Kibet Koech’s competitive results obtained by the athlete from June 26, 2024, to June 10, 2025, are disqualified.

This includes the forfeiture of his fifth-place finish and personal best time from the Paris 2024 Olympics. The decision marks another significant blow to Kenyan athletics as the AIU continues its rigorous monitoring of elite distance runners through the ABP program.