Sofia Marathon winners provisionally suspended by AIU

This year’s Sofia Marathon winners, Viktoriia Khapilina and Youssef Sbaai, have been provisionally suspended from all racing for doping violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s Khapilina and Sbaai of Morocco, who set course records of 2:27:57 and 2:13:03 respectively in the bronze label race in Bulgaria last month, tested positive for a banned substance in an in-competition test, the AIU said.

“The AIU has provisionally suspended Viktoriia Khapilina and Youssef Sbaai for the presence of recombinant EPO, in violation of World Athletics Anti-Doping rules following in-competition tests,” the AIU said in a statement.

Banned… The 2020 Sofia Marathon winners Viktoriia Khapilina of Ukraine and Youssef Sbaai of Morocco have been provisionally suspended by the AIU after they tested positive for recombinant EPO in an in-competition test.