The athletics world has been rocked after Kenyan star Peres Jepchirchir, an Olympic gold medallist and the reigning women’s marathon world champion, was provisionally suspended for failing a drug test.
Jepchirchir was the first woman home in the 2026 Sydney Marathon – a win that earned her $139,000 ($US100,000) – but the Athletics Integrity Unit announced on Friday night that she had retrospectively tested positive to erythropoietin (EPO).
Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir winning the 2026 Sydney Marathon. The Sydney Morning Herald
The positive result came from an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya prior to her win in the Sydney Marathon, which she completed in 2:18:31.
Two Sydney Marathon champions have now been suspended in three years: Jepchirchir and 2024 men’s winner Brimin Kipkorir.
“The TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS is extremely disappointed to learn that Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU),” a Sydney Marathon statement said.
“… Jepchirchir is entitled to due process, and we will make no further comment on the case until that process has concluded.”
Nine.com.au contacted Jepchirchir’s agent for comment.
Jepchirchir won gold in the marathon at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
She also claimed gold in the marathon at last year’s world athletics championships in Tokyo.
She is a four-time world marathon major champion, having won in New York City in 2021, Boston in 2022, London in 2024 and Sydney this year.
Well over 100 Kenyans in the sport of athletics are currently suspended because of doping offences.
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich obliterated the women’s marathon world record in the 2024 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:09:56, but has since been banned for three years after testing positive to hydrochlorothiazide.
Chepngetich retained the world record, as well as her victory and prize money, because the positive result came from a sample collected months later.
Peres Jepchirchir after winning gold in the marathon at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. AP/David Goldman
“Our commitment to clean sport is unwavering,” the Sydney Marathon statement said.
“Every athlete who lines up in Sydney deserves to race on a level playing field, and every participant and spectator deserves to trust the result they see at the finish line.
“That conviction is why, alongside our fellow Abbott World Marathon Majors, we have invested in increased out-of-competition testing in partnership with the AIU, and why we will keep standing firmly with the athletes who compete cleanly.
“Under Abbott World Marathon Majors rules, any athlete banned for a doping offence of three months or more is banned for life from all eight majors.”
