Kenyan Jemima Sumgong, the reigning Olympic and London marathon champion has failed a drugs test.
Sumgong tested positive for banned substance EPO in an out of competition test carried out by athletics’ governing body the IAAF, BBC reports.
“The IAAF can confirm that an anti-doping rule violation case concerning Jemima Sumgong (Kenya) has commenced this week, the International Association of Athletics Federations said in a statement.
“The athlete tested positive for EPO (Erythropoietin) following a no-notice test conducted by the IAAF in Kenya.
“This was part of an enhanced IAAF out-of-competition testing program dedicated to elite marathon runners which is supported by the Abbott World Marathon Majors group.”
The 32-year-old was the first Kenyan to win Olympic marathon gold and was due to defend her title later on this month.
If Sumgong’s B sample is confirmed as positive and she is subsequently banned it will be a massive blow for African distance powerhouse Kenya, where her Rio victory was greeted with near-delirium after such a long and inexplicable barren spell over the classic distance at the Olympics, Kenya’s The Star reports.
The news comes in the wake of a four-year ban handed to Kenya’s multi-marathon champion Rita Jeptoo, Sumgong’s former training partner, after she tested positive for EPO in 2014.
Between 2011 and 2016, more than 40 Kenyan track-and-field athletes failed doping tests.
The latest cases will be seen by observers as evidence of how the IAAF is making progress in the region after previous official criticism of anti-doping regimes in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The two east African nations have in the past been deemed non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) code.
