KIPROP BAN ADDS TO CLOUD HANGING OVER KENYA DRUG CHEATS

THE reputation of Kenyan distance running has taken another battering with the announcement yesterday that Asbel Kiprop, at one stage widely-regarded as the greatest 1,500m runner, has been banned for four years after testing positive for the blood-boosting drug, EPO.

Sportsmail revealed the 2008 Olympic champion and three-time world champion failed an outof-competition test in Kenya in 2017. In a case that also raises concerns about testing in Kenya, 29-year-old Kiprop (right) tried to claim his urine sample could have been tampered with by doping control officers it emerged he had paid money to.

The IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit rejected the claim. Kiprop was given notice of the test by Kenyan anti-doping officers, and made a bank transfer using his phone to an officer soon after providing a sample.

The athlete also claimed the positive could have been caused by ‘natural EPO’ after a period of intense training at altitude in Kenya, while there was a further attempt to blame medication.

The AIU rejected his defence and a backdated ban now runs until February 2022, with his results from November 27, 2017 to February 3, 2018 erased. The ban challenges claims that the huge number of positive tests in Kenya were limited to lesstalented athletes trying to break into the elite. Rio 2016 Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong is serving an eight-year ban for a second doping offence, while last year’s world 800m bronze medallist Kipyegon Bett tested positive for EPO.