Team Kenya at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon has been dealt a major blow after Lawrence Cherono was provisionally suspended for an anti-doping rule violation.
Cherono, 33, had been listed to represent the country in the marathon race scheduled for Sunday.
He was to team up with three-time World Half Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor and the 2019 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon champion Barnaba Kiptum.
However, all his hopes and dreams have been shattered after investigations conducted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) unearthed the presence of Trimetazidine in his sample.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) studied the sample in its Lausanne-based laboratory after receiving it on May 27 before returning the findings to AIU on July 13.
Trimetazidine helps to metabolize fatty acids in the body. It also allows for more blood flow to the heart and limits quick changes in blood pressure. This can help lessen chest pain from blocked blood vessels.
“Trimetazidine is a non-specified substance, and a provisional suspension is mandatory following an adverse analytical finding for such a substance under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules unless certain conditions apply,” AIU said.
Cherono rose to the limelight after clinching the Valencia Marathon’s men’s elite race on December 5, 2021. He won the race in two hours, five minutes and 12 seconds. He had wrapped up in the second position in the preceding year.
On April 15, 2019, Cherono out-sprinted two-time Boston winner and World Championship Silver medalist Lelisa Desisa on the final block of Boylston Street to win the Boston Marathon.
Then on October 13, 2019, Cherono won the 2019 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:05:45.
He donned the Kenyan colours for the first time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where he finished fourth in the men’s marathon race in Sapporo.
Cherono, who trains under the Rosa Associati Management, is currently ranked as the eighth fastest marathoner of all time in the world.
He was one of the athletes honoured by President Kenyatta during the 2021 Mashujaa Day celebrations where he was conferred the Head of State Commendation through the Baringo County Commissioner Henry Wafula.
