Nairobi:
The world’s top female marathon runner, Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo, has tested positive for the blood blood-boosting drug EPO, an official a news agency on Saturday.
The revelation, which casts a shadow over Kenya’s status as a distance-running powerhouse, came after World Marathon Majors organisers said they were postponing the awarding of this year’s prize to 33-year-old Jeptoo following a report she had tested positive in an out of competition urine test.
Athletics Kenya’s vice president, Jackson Tuwei, said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had revealed a positive ‘A’ sample test for the blood-boosting drug Erythropoietin (EPO).
“After we received the letter from the IAAF, we summoned Rita Jeptoo for a meeting in Nairobi. She denied having taken any drugs,” he told AFP.
“We cannot condemn her. She has a right to contest it” and request that the ‘B’ sample also be tested, he added.
Jeptoo is currently the world’s top female marathon runner, having won the Chicago marathon twice and Boston three times, including in 2013 when she set the course record of 2hr 18min 57sec—the eighth-best female marathon time of all time.
She had been due to receive her $500,000 WMM prize—the biggest payout in distance running—for the 2013-2014 series in New York on Sunday, but organisers said the ceremony had been delayed after the RunBlogRun website broke the news of the positive test.
The website said the test was carried out in Kenya in September.
“World Marathon Majors is disappointed to learn that Rita Jeptoo has apparently had an A test that proved positive for a banned substance under IAAF rules,” a WMM statement said.
“World Marathon Majors has been at the forefront of the fight against doping in our sport and has a rule that no athlete can win the World Marathon Majors Series title, who has been in breach of IAAF anti-doping rules,” it added.
“At present there has been no decision in this case by the IAAF, including in relation to sanctions, and as a result... it has been decided to postpone the WMM Awards Ceremony.” Jeptoo could not be reached for comment.
