)
Faith Chepkoech became the latest Kenyan athlete to be suspended for a doping violation but who are the big names caught in the act this year?
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has disqualified 270 Kenyan athletes since 2015, a reminder of the ongoing challenges the country faces in tackling the issue.
As of 2024, 82 Kenyan athletes have been banned from competition due to doping violations.
As the menace continues to tarnish Kenya's reputation as a global powerhouse in matters athletics, 2024 has witnessed top athletes sanctioned and banned after failing their tests.
The number of doping cases has skyrocketed, raising serious questions about the integrity of the runners.
Pulse Sports highlights the top big-name Kenyan athletes who have been sanctioned in 2024.
Michael Saruni
Michael Saruni, 28, was banned for four years in February after attempting to send a proxy to a doping test.
The 800m runner tried to cheat his way through the test at the national trials for the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in Nairobi in June 2022.
The Tokyo Olympics semi-finalist, "then asked a substitute to impersonate him and provide a sample on his behalf," according to a statement. His sanction will last until the end of August 2027.
Lawrence Cherono
Former Boston and Chicago marathon winner Lawrence Cherono was handed a seven-year ban in July after he was found to have violated anti-doping regulations.
The AIU imposed a ban of four years for the violation together with another four-year ban for the tampering or attempted tampering of the doping control, but reduced the overall ban by one year due to admission and acceptance.
Josephine Chepkoech
Sevilla Marathon runners-up Josephine Chepkoech received a seven-year ban in May for committing a second doping violation.
The 35-year-old ran a personal best of 2:22:38 to finish second in the south of Spain behind Ethiopia's Azmera Gebru. In February.
After the race, she gave a urine sample which tested positive for 5alpha-Adiol and 5beta-Adiol, both metabolics of the prohibited substance testosterone. In late April, she won the Santiago Marathon in Chile which was not recognised by World Athletics.
She had also been suspended for two years in 2015 after testing positive for a banned substance following a 10 km road race in Angola.
Rhonex Kipruto
World 10,000m bronze medallist and World 10km recorder holder Rhonex Kipruto was suspended in June for doping related irregularities in his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP)
The AIU, through the disciplinary tribunal suspended Kipruto for six years. The tribunal rejected his defence after considering and reviewing expert submission, concluding that "the cause of the abnormalities in the ABP is most likely due to blood manipulation" through the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) and noting that "there is no other plausible explanation" for the abnormal values found in the 24-year-old ABP.
Faith Chepkoech
The 21-year-old upcoming long-distance runner becomes the latest addition to the list after admitting to the use of banned substance EPO and is set to serve a three-year suspension as announced on Wednesday.
She accepted that she was culpable, having initially denied any use of banned substance.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)