Kenyan Marathoner Ekiru Slapped With 10-Year Doping Ban
International athletics governing body Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned Kenyan athlete Titus Ekiru for 10 years due to doping allegations.
According to the AIU, the elite athlete conspired with a doctor at a Kenyan hospital to falsify medical documents in an attempt to deceive the anti-doping organization.
“The AIU has banned Titus Ekiru (Kenya) for 10 years, from 28 June 2022, for the Presence of Prohibited Substances (Triamcinolone Acetonide and metabolite; Pethidine and metabolite) and for Tampering,” AIU’s communique read.
AIU stated further that the athlete tested positive for doping during two international competitions he won, the Generali Milano Marathon on 16 May 2021 and the Abu Dhabi Marathon on 26 November 2021.
The prohibition is in effect from June 28, 2022 (the date Ekiru was suspended) until June 27, 2032.
Since 16 May 2021, Ekiru’s results have been disqualified, resulting in the loss of all prizes and money.
“Ekiru’s victory in the Generali Milano Marathon would have made him the sixth-fastest marathoner of all time,” AIU stated.
In July 2023, the marathoner was accused of the presence of a banned substance, by the World Anti-Doping Rules for Athletics (ADR), and of attempting to interfere with an AIU investigation.
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The AIU and Kenya’s Anti-Doping Agency obtained the marathoner’s hospital documents, which revealed inconsistencies in Ekiru’s explanations and supporting documentation regarding the results of his urine tests.
He claimed that prescribed medications for injury remedies were the substances that tested positive for illegal substances.
“Deeper investigation unearthed Ekiru’s collusion with a senior doctor in Nandi County from whom, on two occasions (29 April 2021 and 6 May 2021), the athlete received injections of triamcinolone acetonide during undocumented hospital visits,” the athletics integrity body elaborated.
While Ekiru’s accomplice, the doctor, claimed that the athlete’s hospital visits were not documented because “he attended early in the morning, before the registration offices opened,” the Director of Medical Services for Nandi County testified otherwise.
On 16 June 2021, it was discovered that the medical records documenting the athlete’s visits on 29 April 2021 and 6 May 2021 were forged and backdated.
In addition, the hospital neither stocked nor dispensed the aforementioned ‘injury medication’ on the dates specified.
Therefore, the AIU concluded that the athlete was culpable of both doping and tampering.
Kenyan Marathoner Ekiru Slapped With 10-Year Doping Ban
