Diana Chemtai Kipyokei Loses Boston Marathon Title As More Kenyans Banned For Doping

Last year's Boston Marathon winner Diana Chemtai Kipyokei has been disqualified from the race after becoming the latest Kenyan athlete to be sanctioned for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Tuesday. Kipyokei, who was provisionally suspended in October, was hit with a six-year ban for multi-doping violations after testing positive for triamcinolone after the race in Boston and then using false documents in an attempt to excuse herself.  Triamcinolone is a glucocorticoid which was still authorised in certain forms in 2021 before being totally banned in competition since the start of this year. 

The 28-year-old won the Boston Marathon in October 2021, one of the six "major" marathons, after which her doping test showed up an 'adverse analytical finding' (AAF). "With investigative assistance from the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), the AIU discovered that Kipyokei provided false/misleading information in trying to explain her AAF, including fake documentation which she alleged came from a hospital," said the AIU statement.

"As a result, Kipyokei will now be disqualified as the 2021 Boston Marathon women's winner."

She will be suspended until June 2028 while fellow-Kenyan Edna Kiplagat, who came second in Boston, is now listed as the race winner. The IAU also announced on Tuesday the five-year suspension of another Kenyan athlete, Purity Cherotich Rionoripo, for testing positive for the diuretic furosemide and also using false documents. The 29-year-old Rionoripo won the Paris Marathon in 2017 and Prague in 2021. 

Kenyan athletics has been plagued by doping cases for several years, with more than 25 recorded in 2022. Sprinter Mark Otieno was among three Kenyan athletes banned by the AIU on Monday.

Kenya vowed early this month to clean up its act after escaping a World Athletics ban for doping that threatened to make the east African track and field powerhouse a sporting pariah.

The athletics giant has been in the top category on the World-Anti Doping Agency watch list since February 2016, alongside only Bahrain, Belarus, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine. There are 55 Kenyans listed on the AIU's global list of ineligible athletes, last updated on November 30.