MONACO: The 800 metres world championships bronze medallist Kipyegon Bett of Kenya has tested positive for the blood-booster EPO having already been suspended and charged with evading a doping test.
The failed test was announced on Sunday by the Athletics Integrity Unit, which handles doping cases for the IAAF.
The 20-year-old Bett, the world junior champion in 2016, was suspended two weeks ago for ‘refusing or failing to submit’ to a doping test.
He faces a four-year ban.
Bett is the fourth Kenyan to face doping charges since the start of the year and another high-profile athlete from the east African distance-running powerhouse to test positive for EPO.
Asbel Kiprop, the 2008 Olympic champion and three-time world champion in the 1,500 metres, is facing a disciplinary tribunal after being charged with using EPO.
Other Kenyans currently facing doping charges include former 10,000-metre Commonwealth champion Lucy Wangui (morphine) and 2017 Athens Marathon winner Samuel Kalalei (EPO).
Ruth Jebet, the Kenya-born 3,000-metre steeplechase prodigy who won gold at the 2016 Olympics at the age of 19, was also suspended this year and charged with using EPO.
Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2018