This archive report was first published on 27 December 2019.
On March 17, former Valencia Marathon champion Sammy Kiprop Kitwara failed an in-competition doping control in Seoul, South Korea, testing positive for Terbutaline, a prohibited substance unless an athlete has a Therapeutic Use Exemption permitting its use.
Kitwara, who was part of the team paced for Eliud Kipchoge when he set the World marathon record in Berlin last year, has been banned for 16 months by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
According to the AIU, Kitwara had accepted the ban and waived his right to have the consequences determined by the Disciplinary Tribunal at a hearing.
“Taking into consideration the fact that the Athlete is relatively experienced and that there are no other mitigating factors, the AIU considers the Athlete’s subjective fault to be at the ‘high’ end of the ‘normal’ category,” the AIU said in a statement.
“Given the Athlete’s timely admission of the violation after being confronted by the AIU, there is discretion…to back-date the start of the ban to the date of sample collection,” the statement added.
