Kenyans face drug probe
BOSTON Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei, of Kenya, was suspended yesterday after testing positive for doping at the race and allegedly obstructing an investigation.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said Kipyokei’s sample after winning in October last year had traces of triamcinolone acetonide. It is a glucocorticoid prohibited at races when an athlete does not have permission to use it as a medication.
The case has deepened suspicions the substance is a doping product of choice for athletes from Kenya.
The AIU said 10 Kenyans have tested positive for triamcinolone since the start of 2021, with only two cases in athletics from the rest of the world in the same period. In a second triamcinolone case revealed yesterday, Kenyan marathon runner Betty Wilson Lempus was also suspended while under investigation for doping. Kipyokei is under investigation for ‘‘obstructing or delaying investigation through the provision of false information or documentation.’’