Former World Under 20, 10,000m champion Rodgers Kwemoi has been handed a six-year ban for anti-doping violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said in a statement on Friday.
The Japan-based athlete will lose the Istanbul Half Marathon title, the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medal, and his junior world title from 2016 in the 10,000m following the ban.
In a statement, AIU said Kwemoi knew about abnormalities detected in his ABP profile and that they were considering taking charges against him but did not respond within the given timeline, prompting the doping watchdog to come down hard on him.
"All the athlete’s results obtained since July 18, 2016, until the date that the provisional suspension was imposed are disqualified under Rules 9, 10.1, and 10.10 of the 2021 Anti-Doping Rules, with all resulting consequences including the forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, points, prizes and appearance money,” the AIU statement read.
The decision of the disciplinary tribunal indicates that Kwemoi engaged in a deliberate, systematic and sophisticated doping regime, which would not have been possible without deliberate intent and the assistance of experts.
Kwemoi burst onto the scene in 2016 when he outsprinted Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda to win gold at at the 2016 World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, before claiming bronze two years later at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia over the same distance.
He finished fourth in the 2019 World Championships and seventh in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He was part of the athletics stable at the Global Communication camp in Kaptagat.
