Samuel Kalalei tests positive for EPO, handed four-year ban

Kenya marathoner Samuel Kalalei [Courtesy]

23-year-old Kenyan marathon runner Samuel Kalalei has been handed a four-year doping ban after testing positive for banned blood-boosting hormone EPO.

Kalalei tested positive at the Rotterdam Marathon back in April and was provisionally suspended from the sport two months later.

He won the Athens Marathon in 2017.

He won the Athens Marathon in 2017 [Courtesy]

Kalalei is now the third Kenyan athlete to be handed a doping ban. Four more other cases are still pending.

They include Asbel Kiprop, the former Olympic 1500m gold medalist and Jemima Sumgong, the Rio 2016 Olympic Women’s champion. 

Kalalei is the third Kenyan athlete to be handed a doping ban [Courtesy]

EPO (Erythroprotein) is a glycoprotein secreted by the kidney which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow.