Lilian Kasait Rengeruk at the Tokyo Olympics last year
PARIS (AFP) – Kenyan athlete Lilian Kasait Rengeruk was placed on Wednesday by the Athletics Safety Unit for a 10-month doping ban for her use of a banned hormone therapy drug.
The 25-year-old, who finished 12th in the 5000m final at the Tokyo Olympics last year, became the eighth Kenyan athlete to be convicted of doping since July.
The former under-18 world champion tested positive for 3000m letrozole.
Her results were cleared from standard records as of January 20, the day she tested positive.
The former African Games and National Champion runs from April 2022 to February 2023 as she pleaded guilty.
“Taking into account the speed with which a player will recognize anti-doping law violations upon notification, the parties agree that the period of ineligibility must be retroactive,” the federation said in a statement.
Given the series of positive tests, Athletics Kenya has taken action with a series of measures to combat this problem.
“Kenya Athletics has revitalized the Intelligence and Investigation Unit with the aim of dismantling the cartels and taking the war on doping to a new level,” the AKP said in July.
Lawrence Chirono was among the eight who were caught doping.
The 34-year-old, winner of the 2019 Boston and Chicago Marathons and fourth in the Olympics last year, was suspended ahead of the world championships in Oregon in July.
Cherono tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance, after an out-of-competition test on May 23.
In 2016, Kenya was placed in Category 1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Compliance Watch List.
