•The development comes barely days after another Kenyan runner Mark Kangogo — winner of the Sierre-Zinal in August — also tested positive for triamcinolone.
•Lempus, 31, had initially been cleared by the French Anti-doping Agency but was found culpable upon further investigations conducted by AIU after his 2021 Paris half-marathon triump
Image: HANDOUT
The 2021 Boston Marathon champion Diana Chemtai Kipyokei and her Kenyan teammate Betty Wilson Lempus have both been handed a provisional suspension over anti-doping rule violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced Friday.
The duo tested positive for the prohibited substance, triamcinolone in 2021. Kipyokei, 28, returned a positive test after clinching the 2021 Boston marathon.
Lempus, 31, had initially been cleared by the French Anti-doping Agency but was found culpable upon further investigations conducted by AIU after his 2021 Paris half-marathon triumph.
“After extensive investigations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has provisionally suspended two Kenyan marathoners— Diana Kipyokei and Betty /Wilson Lempus—and charged them with various breaches of the World Athletics AntiDoping Rules (ADR),” the statement read in part.
“The AIU has informed the AFLD of the outcome of this investigation so they may take any necessary action within their authority.”
AIU said the anti-doping rule violations stem from probes into the information provided by the athletes to explain Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) for metabolites of triamcinolone acetonide in samples they provided during in-competition tests last year.
The development comes barely days after another Kenyan runner Mark Kangogo — winner of the Sierre-Zinal in August — also tested positive for triamcinolone.
The AIU further found the two athletes culpable of tampering with evidence, including obstructing or delaying the AIU's investigation through the provision of false information or documentation.
“They were found to have tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control (under Rule 2.5 ADR), including obstructing or delaying the AIU’s investigation through the provision of false information or documentation.”
Kipyokei and Lempus are the 22nd and 23rd Kenyan athletes suspended in 2022. Kenya has been placed on the radar since 2016 when it was listed as a category A country by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
"The cases announced today are part of a recent trend in Kenyan athletics regarding triamcinolone acetonide, with 10 Kenyan athletes testing positive for that prohibited substance between 2021 and 2022," the AIU said.
AIU also banned Kenyan marathoner Philemon Kacheran Lokedi for three years after his sample tested positive for Testosterone.
Lokedi, 30, had been selected to fly Kenya's flag at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom but was replaced at the last minute by bronze medalist Michael Githae.
Lokedi was busted with an out-of-competition test that was carried out in Kapenguria on April 27 and the ban comes into force retroactively on July 8, 2022.
Lokedi was initially suspended in July, just before the Commonwealth Games, where he was set to lead Kenya's team in Birmingham. AIU confirmed that Lokedi had his ban reduced by a year after he admitted the violation.
The 2017 world cross country bronze medallist Lilian Kasait, also found herself in trouble with the agency that banned her for 10 months.
Kasiat, 25, reportedly tested positive for a prohibited hormone therapy drug, letrozole.
AIU said in a statement that the Kenyan pleaded guilty to the doping charges and her suspension will run from April 2022 to February 2023.
Kasait secured a 12th-place finish in the 5,000 metres final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but her result has since been erased from the records after she tested positive.