Kenyan athlete Daniel Wanjiru slapped with four-year ban
Athletics
By
Robert Abong'o and Agencies
| Oct 16, 2020
2017 London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru has been handed a four-year-ban due to an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) violation, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced on Thursday, October 15.
Wanjiru, who has denied any wrongdoing, had been provisionally suspended since 14 April, 2020 after he was found guilty of the offense.
Wanjiru becomes the 11th Kenyan athlete to be handed a doping ban this year alone, other notable names including former World Marathon record-holder Wilson Kipsang, who also received a four-year ban on grounds on “whereabout violations”.
The @WorldAthletics Disciplinary Tribunal has banned long-distance runner Daniel Wanjiru of Kenya for four years with effect from 09 Dec 2019, for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) violation. He has been suspended since 14 April 2020.
???????https://t.co/cBkQOqSHT4#AIUNews pic.twitter.com/9p85q2G7yU — Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) October 14, 2020
Others to be banned include Peter Kwemoi, Vincent Yator, Mikel Mutai, Mercy Kibarus, Japhet Kipkorir, Alex Korio, Kenneth Kipkemoi, Philip Kangogo and Patrick Siele.
His ban was backdated to Dec. 9, 2019 and all of the 28-year-old's results since March 9 last year have been disqualified, the AIU said in a statement.
Wanjiru has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
ABPs are used to monitor selected biological variables over time that indirectly reveal the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the substance or method itself.
The AIU said the anomalies in Wanjiru's ABP went "far beyond any physiological possible adjustment".
Elsewhere, Romania’s 2008 Olympic champion Constantina Dita has been named an ambassador for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia tomorrow.
Dita competed at eight editions of the World Half Marathon and earned seven medals in the process, making her one of the most successful athletes in the history of the event. Her double victory in Edmonton in 2005 remains one of the highlights of her career.