Kibiwott Kandie at risk of 8-year ban following further Athletics Integrity Unit charges
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Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 12.05.26. | 18:15
He is now at risk of a sanction of up to eight years
Former half-marathon world record holder Kibiwott Kandie, currently suspended for failing to provide a doping sample, has received further charges that could lengthen his suspension and impending ban, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has announced.
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The AIU has issued a Notice of Charge, including an additional violation of Tampering or Attempted Tampering with doping control to the earlier charge for Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection.
Kandie, 29, who won the Valencia Half Marathon in a world record time of 57:32 back in 2020, knocking 29 seconds from the previous record of 58:01 set by fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor in 2019, was initially suspended on 14 March 2025.
He was already facing a potential four-year ban for his first violation. Now, with the additional charge, he is at risk of a sanction of up to eight years.
While Kandie's time in the half-marathon remains a Kenyan record over the distance, the world half-marathon record has been lowered twice since then.
First by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who ran 57:30 at Valencia in October 2024, and again in March 2026, when Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo ran 57:20 in Lisbon.
At last year’s Barcelona Half-Marathon, Kiplimo ran an even faster mark of 56:42, which was later ruled invalid due to alleged assistance from a lead pace car.
AIU has not provided further details on the case.
