The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed an appeal by 2017 London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru against a four-year doping ban slapped on him in 2019.
Wanjiru was banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit for an athlete's biological passport violation after unusually high levels of hemoglobin were detected in his blood sample.
ABP is software that monitors abnormal biological parameters, which may indicate the use of a prohibited substance by the suspected culprit.
In the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon champion's case, AIU ruled that the high levels had no physiological explanation and could only be a case of doping.
The court, led by Jan Paulsson, concluded that Wanjiru and his lawyers have failed to prove that his samples had been inadequately mixed, leading to a false positive.
"The panel is comfortably satisfied that the abnormal ABP values were caused by a transfusion. The athlete has not provided any objective, physiological or pathological reason or condition to explain the abnormality in the ABP values," the court ruled.
It added: "The athlete’s appeal is dismissed. Accordingly, his period of ineligibility of 4 years starting on December 9, 2019, and the disqualification of his results from March 9 2019 stand as ordered by the Disciplinary Tribunal."
In his defence, Wanjiru had argued that AIU erred by not undertaking another sample to confirm the results of the first one and that inadequate mixing of the sample led to a false positive.
"It is common ground that Sample 14 revealed a 'very abnormal' hemoglobin value of 19.4g/dL. But the Athlete offers an explanation consistent with his innocence, namely an 'inadequate mixing of his specimen prior to its analysis', which could have caused a “false positive” and which would also explain the return to normal of the blood values in the sample 15 just four days later," lawyer Michiel Van Dijk, acting for the 2014 Wachau Half Marathon champion, said.
He had also argued that it was impossible for him to undergo massive blood transfusion as World Athletics experts had posited.
"The athlete suggests that the hemoglobin value attributed to his sample is so exceptional that it points to an error. The athlete and his experts conclude that the most likely explanation is “inadequate mixing,” court documents indicate.
With his appeal dismissed, the earliest date of return to action for the 2015 Prague Half Marathon champion is December 8 next year.
