Newly banned Kenyan marathoner explains how he ended up doping

Kenyan marathoner Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat has been handed a five-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for doping.

As per an AIU statement on Monday, 29 September, Kibet, 31, was flagged for the presence and use of two prohibited substances - Erythropoietin (“EPO”) and methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (“CERA”) - which were detected from his out-of-competition urine sample collected on 29 July in Kaptagat.

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In a detailed statement, AIU indicate that Kibet, who is ranked 42nd in the world in men’s marathon, upon being informed of an Adverse Analytical Finding in his sample on Thursday, 4 September, attended an online interview with the unit representatives eight days later, when he admitted using the two banned substances.

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It is reported that Kibet, whose last race was a 15th-place finish in the Sydney Marathon on Sunday, 31 August, overheard unnamed runners saying EPO and CERA would reduce lactic acid in the muscles, after which he decided to try the substances without the knowledge that they were prohibited.

“On 27 July 2025, whilst in Kenya, the Athlete approached a bus conductor and gave him 5000 Kenyan shillings to travel to Eldoret town and to purchase EPO and CERA from any pharmacy/chemist,” AIU noted in their submission.

“The bus conductor dropped off the EPO and CERA he purchased for the Athlete at a roadside vendor where the Athlete collected them.

He did not know the bus conductor or the pharmacy that he visited to buy EPO and CERA. The Athlete was not given any receipt of purchase.”

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AIU further note that Kibet, on the same day he received the substances, injected himself in the hip/thigh muscle, using syringes that came with the packaging, but did not read the labels.

Having been given a chance to provide any additional explanation for the Adverse Analytical Finding, Kibet, on Monday, 29 September, admitted the Anti-Doping Rule Violations and accepted the consequences specified in AIU’s Notice of Allegation.

Kibet’s ban should have seen him benefit from a one-year reduction from the standard four-year ban, but AIU established that Aggravating Circumstances were present in his case for having used multiple prohibited substances, and failed to establish that he did not knowingly commit the Anti-Doping Rule Violations.

Kibet was therefore handed a six-year ban for that fault, which, upon his admission on Thursday, 25 September, meant that he was handed the one-year reduction, ruling him out of the sport for five years.

His ban, which will also see his results since 29 July disqualified, commenced on 11 September, the date his provisional suspension came into effect.

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