Kenyan runner Anyango banned for six years for use of testosterone and EPO

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November 22, 2024 – 7:46 AM PST

Emmaculate Anyango Achol of Kenya competes in the Senior Women’s Final during the World Athletics Cross Country finals Championships at The Park of Friendship on March 30, 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images for World Athletics)

(Reuters) – Kenyan cross country runner Emmaculate Anyango has been banned for six years after failing a doping test for testosterone and the blood-boosting hormone EPO, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday.

The 24-year-old, who became the second woman to complete a 10km race in under 29 minutes (28:57) in Valencia in January, had been provisionally suspended last month.

According to the AIU, Anyango said in September that she did not know how EPO and metabolites of testosterone were found in her system but admitted she had been injected during treatment at several hospitals after she had fainted.

She said that she had not deliberately taken or injected any prohibited substances but the AIU were not satisfied with her explanation and charged her with an anti-doping rule violation.

The AIU added that Anyango failed to respond to the charge before the Nov. 1 deadline, which waived her right to a hearing, while multiple samples testing positive for banned substances ultimately led to a longer ban.

Her ban is effective from Sept. 26 and all her results since Feb. 3 have been disqualified.

Anyango finished fourth at the 2024 World Cross Country Championships in March in Serbia, where Kenya won the team gold medal.

^{Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Toby Davis}

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