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Kenyan 17-year-old given four-year drug ban

Wednesday November 27 2019
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A runner takes part in a marathon. PHOTO | REUTERS

By AFP

A teenager became the 43rd Kenyan runner suspended for doping this year when she was handed a four-year ban, announced by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old former African Youth Games 800m silver medallist tested positive for Norandrosterone, a metabolite of anabolic steroid Nandrolone, the AIU, the independent anti-doping watchdog for track and field, said in its decision.

The drug showed up in a sample taken on 7 October 2018 in an out-of-competition doping control programme at the Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

Her ban is from the date of the test.

She is first Kenyan teenager to be banned for doping and joins a growing list of runners from the running powerhouse to fail drug tests.

Forty-three Kenyan athletes, including the women's 2016 Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong and three-time World 1,500m winner Asbel Kiprop have been banned this year.

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Earlier in November, two top long distances athletes, Abraham Kiptum and Cyrus Rutto, were suspended for four years each by the AIU or using prohibited substances.

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