Two of Kenya's leading marathon runners have spoken out about the doping case facing reigning world marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, describing it as a blow to the reputation of Kenyan athletics as the country weighs tougher laws against those who encourage athletes to cheat.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on October 23 that it had provisionally suspended Jepchirchir after an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya before her Sydney Marathon win returned an adverse finding for erythropoietin (EPO), a banned blood booster. The suspension is provisional and is not a final finding that she committed a violation. She may request analysis of her B sample and challenge the case.

'It can ruin the name of athletes'

Speaking ahead of Sunday's New York City Marathon, men's defending champion Benson Kipruto said the case was damaging because of how high-profile the athlete is.

"It's so shameful," Kipruto told Reuters. "Somebody like that, high-profile name, can ruin the name of athletes not only in Kenya but all over the world."

Kipruto proposed more testing of decorated athletes before the World Marathon Majors, suggesting that runners who receive appearance fees accept a cut, with the money used to fund intensified AIU testing for about three months before races.

Women's defending champion Hellen Obiri was more cautious, saying she would wait for the outcome of the B sample. "If (it is) true, that would be shocking news and it would be so bad for the Kenyans," she said, adding that the case showed anti-doping measures were working.

Athletics Kenya has reiterated what it called its "unwavering policy of zero tolerance to doping".

A decorated career under scrutiny

Jepchirchir, the Tokyo Olympic marathon champion and 2025 world champion, won the Sydney Marathon on August 30 in 2:18:31, her fourth World Marathon Major title after New York in 2021, Boston in 2022 and London in 2024. She is also a two-time world half marathon champion.

Her agent has previously said she "feels terrible" about what happened.

The case comes weeks after World Athletics awarded Nairobi the 2029 World Athletics Championships, and adds to a long list of Kenyan sanctions. More than 140 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned since the AIU was set up in 2017.

Parliament targets the enablers

Away from the track, the National Assembly's Sports and Culture Committee, chaired by Malava MP David Ndakwa, has been holding public hearings in Kitale and Bungoma on the Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The bill seeks to punish people who encourage athletes to use banned substances for personal gain, and to align Kenyan law with the revised World Anti-Doping Code, which takes effect on January 1.

  • Coaches at the forums backed holding trainers accountable, with one saying coaches have been "the main culprits"
  • Others asked for safeguards against witch-hunts by rivals during random testing
  • Some called for the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to be devolved beyond Nairobi

Stakeholders also asked for clearer public information on banned substances so that athletes do not take them unknowingly.

Photos: Katie Chan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); Gr5555 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.