The Kenyan Emmaculate Anyango, who achieved the second best performance in the world in the 10 km in January, has been suspended for six years for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday, November 22.
The 24-year-old athlete tested positive for testosterone and erythropoietin (EPO) four times between February and June 2024, details the AIU in a press release. Questioned in September, she denied any deliberate use of doping products, recalling injecting herself with an unknown treatment at several hospitals after she fainted. A defense that did not convince the AIU, which temporarily suspended it in October.
“The AIU has suspended Emmaculate Anyango for six years from September 26, 2024 for the presence and use of prohibited substances. Your results are canceled as of February 3, 2024. »date of his first positive test, is written in the press release published this Friday.
However, this retroactive sanction allows her to maintain the time achieved in January during the 10 km in Valencia, when she became the second athlete to go under 29 minutes (28”57). In the same race, her compatriot Agnes Jebet Ngetich won and broke the world record for the discipline (28’46).
Kenya and its endurance athletes have been the source of numerous doping cases in recent years and, in particular, in recent months, with an increase in controls. The AIU, an independent body responsible in particular for controls and investigations since 2017, denounced large-scale doping in the country in April 2023.
