Kenyan athletes Michael Kunyuga Njenga and Maiyo Johnstone Kibet have been suspended over anti-doping rule violations, Athletics Integrity United (AIU) has announced.
Njenga, who came second at the Rimi Riga Marathon in Latvia three months ago, tested positive for Norandrosterone, a metabolite of the prohibited muscle-building steroid nandrolone.
His compatriot Kibet, a second-place finisher at the Kigali International Peace Marathon in Rwanda earlier this year, tested positive for the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).
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“Kenyan athletes, Maiyo Johnstone Kibet and Michael Kunyuga Njenga have been provisionally suspended for the Presence/Use of Prohibited Substances. In Kibet’s instance, EPO; while in Njenga’s, Norandrosterone,” the AIU said in statement.
Kenya has an unmatched reputation for producing world class athletes in long and middle-distance running, but the East African powerhouse has been caught up in a series of doping scandals that has seen hundreds of athletes suspended over the last few years.
Kenya is in Category A of the World Athletes doping watch-list, meaning it is subjected to strict doping rules and regulations with athletes having to undergo at least three out-of-competition tests within a 10-month period before major championships.
The two are the latest Kenyans to receive the suspension following 2019 Boston Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono, marathoner Philemon Kacheran and Eglay Nalyanya who are serving recent suspensions.
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