Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and 2025 World champion in the marathon, has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding for the banned blood booster EPO, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which handles doping in international track and field.
The case stems from an out-of-competition sample taken in Kenya before Jepchirchir won the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 30.
Athletes can be provisionally suspended before a hearing to determine the final decision in their case.
Gianni Demadonna, who is listed as Jepchirchir’s athlete representative by World Athletics, said by email Friday, “I can only say that I feel terrible about what happened and I think it’s only right that an athlete who uses the performance enhancing drugs should be disqualified.”
Jepchirchir, 33, also won major marathons in New York City (2021), Boston (2022) and London (2024).
