Last year’s Boston marathon winner Diana Chemtai Kipyokei and her Kenyan teammate Betty Wilson Lempus have been provisionally suspended over anti-doping rule violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced Friday, IgbereTV reports
The two athletes are accused of tampering with evidence, “including obstructing or delaying the AIU’s investigation through the provision of false information or documentation”.
The pair tested positive in 2021 for triamcinolone, a substance still allowed in some forms that year before being subject to a total ban in January.
Kipyokei, 28, had tested positive after winning the 2021 Boston marathon while Lempus, 31, was initially cleared by French anti-doping authorities after winning the 2021 Paris half-marathon before the AIU conducted a further investigation into the explanation offered by the runner.
THe two suspensions come just three days after that of trail runner and compatriot Mark Kangogo, winner of the Sierre-Zinal in August and also returning a positive test for triamcinolone.
Kipyokei and Lempus are the 22nd and 23rd Kenyan athletes suspended in 2022.
Kenya has since 2016 been listed as a category A country by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
