Kenyan Marathon Runner Abraham Kiptum Suspended for Doping

Half Marathon World record Abraham Kiptum has been provisionally suspended over irregularities in his biological passport, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced.

The 29-year-old Kenyan runner was to participate in Sunday’s London Marathon but has now been pulled out due to doping case.

“The AIU confirms a provisional suspension against Kenyan long-distance runner Abraham Kiptum for an Athlete Biological Passport violation under the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) anti-doping rules,” tweeted the AIU.

Kiptum’s withdrawal now leaves Olympic marathon champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, 2015 Champion Wilson Kipsang and one time London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru to lead the Kenyan assault at ‘The Running City, of Britain.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy on doping. London is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and we recently announced a ground-breaking extensive intelligence-driven testing programme. This shows the programme is working. Cheats will be caught and there is no place for them in marathon running,” said Hugh Brasher, Event Director for the Virgin Money London Marathon.

Kiptum broke the world half-marathon record when he clocked 58:18 to win the Valencia Half Marathon last October, lowering Zersenay Tadese’s eight-year-old mark by five seconds.

He ran one of the quickest marathons in the world in December 2018 when he was second in Abu Dhabi in 2:04:16. Unfortunately, it was a short course, so that time will not feature in the record books.

The Kenyan set his personal best of 2:05:26 when finishing third at Amsterdam Marathon on October 15, 2017.

Kiptum becomes the third Kenyan to be suspended on ABP related violations after the 2017 Tokyo Marathon champion Sarah Chepchirchir and 5,000m runner Cyrus Rutto.