Former London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru’s four-year doping ban upheld

2017 London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru has had his four-year doping appeal upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and is set to continue serving his ban.

The 29-year-old was banned back in October 2020 for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) violation after tests found irregularities in his 16 blood samples before and after the 2019 London Marathon.

According to the initial findings by World Athletics his highly abnormal ABP indicated blood doping because it cannot be explained by any other pathological or physiological cause, as determined and confirmed by a Joint Expert Panel.

The bone of contention was around sample 14, which was retrieved from Wanjiru’s body on March 9 2020, the day after he got down from altitude in Kenya and flew to London.

He competed in the London Half Marathon – the Big Half – on March 10 and returned to altitude in Kenya the following day after which another sample was taken on March 13.

In his defence, Wanjiru maintained his innocence claiming one single suspect HGB value in one sample and that one suspect ABP value is in itself insufficient to prove an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV).

In a ruling made on Monday 21 February, the Court of Arbitration for Sport revealed reasons why Wanjiru’s appeal was thrown away.

“The Panel finds that WA and the experts have provided plausible scenarios, consistent with scientific literature, which support the finding that the Athlete did transfuse himself, most likely on 7 or 8 March 2019.

Inadequate mixing has been excluded as the cause of the highly elevated HGB levels in Sample 14. The Athlete has not brought forth any alternative explanation for his highly abnormal ABP,” read part of the conclusion by the court.

The court also ordered the disqualification of his results from 9 March 2019 stand as ordered by the Disciplinary Tribunal with his four-year ban from 9 December 2019 upheld.