Lawrence Cherono, a prominent Kenyan marathon runner, has been handed a seven-year ban for breaching anti-doping regulations.
The 35-year-old athlete received a four-year suspension for testing positive for a banned substance and an additional four years for tampering with or attempting to mislead the investigation. However, this was reduced by one year due to his early admission and acceptance of the sanction.
Cherono was provisionally suspended in July 2022 after testing positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ). The ban is retroactive to his initial suspension, rendering Cherono ineligible to compete until 2029.
Initially, Cherono attributed the positive test to an injection he received from a doctor for stomach pain. Later, he changed his explanation, citing a mix-up with his wife’s medication.
Brett Clothier, Head of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), emphasized that the decision sends a strong message to those contemplating breaking anti-doping rules. He commended the AIU for its rigorous investigation into doping cases, underscoring their commitment to upholding fairness in athletics.
Earlier this year, Russian figure skater, Kamila Valieva received a four-year ban for testing positive for TMZ just before the 2022 Winter Olympics. In a separate incident in 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the drug were cleared to compete in the Tokyo Games, as the China Anti-Doping Agency determined they had unintentionally ingested the substance through contamination.
