Kenyan marathoner Titus Ekiru was banned 10 years for doping and tampering by the Athletics Integrity Unit on Monday.

Here’s what you need to know:

– Ekiru holds a 2:02:57 personal best from his win at the Milan Marathon in May 2021. He also won the Abu Dhabi Marathon in November 2021. He is also a two-time champion of the Honolulu Marathon and the 2019 All-Africa Games Champion in the half marathon. He has not competed since 2021.

– He is the sixth-fastest marathoner in history. Only Kelvin Kiptum, Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele, Birhanu Legese, Nosinet Geremew and Deniss Kimetto have run faster in history.

– He tested positive for the banned substance triamcinolone acetonide at the Milan Marathon in 2021. He also tested positive for pethidine and its marker norpethidine at the Abu Dhabi Marathon in 2021. He has been banned from June 28, 2022 to June 27, 2032 and all of his results dating back to May 16, 2021 have been disqualified.

The Investigation

– The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Ekiru has been banned for conspiring with a high-ranking doctor at a Kenyan hospital. The AIU treated the two positive tests and the first tampering charge as a single anti-doping rule violation for a four-year ban, plus two years for aggravating circumstances for a six-year total. However, he had a second tampering violation, which carries a four-year ban – so he is ineligible for 10 years.

– The AIU says they acquired hospital information that contrasted Ekiru’s explanation and documentation for the positive test, which he said came from prescribed medications for injuries. However, the AIU uncovered that Ekiru colluded with a senior doctor from Nandi County in Kenya for two undocumented hospital visits (April 29, 2021 and May 6, 2021) where he received injections of triamcinolone acetonide.

He also had an undocumented hospital visit on Nov. 19, 2021, where he was given a pethidine injection and meperidine (pethidine) tablets (among other medications) for acute pain. The doctor backed Ekiru saying the athlete came in before the registration offices had opened so his attendance was not recorded.

Ekiru didn’t actually get an outpatient number assigned until June 16, 2021. A senior medical official from the Nandi County Government in Kenya determined the medical documents that he produced to show for his hospital visits in April and May 2021 were produced afterward and backdated.

– The AIU provisionally suspended Ekiru in June 2022. The doctor who aided Ekiru has not been named but was referred to authorities in Kenya for further investigation. Ekiru could appeal his suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but dropped his case in July when the AIU presented their evidence against him.

What the AIU said:

AIU chair David Howman said: “Government officials are now working alongside Adak and the AIU to uncover doping in Kenyan athletics and expose the networks that may be involved. For athletes involved in doping and the entourage who assist them, there is one strong message from this case – there is nowhere to hide.”