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When will this charade end?
On Monday, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced Kenyan Careen Cheptoek’s two-year suspension for doping.
The suspension started on February 29, 2025. The 31-year-old showed the presence or use of Methylprednisolone.
The AIU has banned Careen Cheptoek (Kenyan) for 2 years from 19 February 2025 for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Methylprednisolone). DQ results from 15 December 2024
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) February 24, 2025
Details here: https://t.co/V3kNav0m55 pic.twitter.com/8LIFmOXYxF
Cheptoek has a personal best in the marathon of 2:32:53, run during the Taipei City Marathon in December 2024.
According to the Mayo Clinic, methylprednisolone provides relief for inflamed areas of the body. It is used to treat a number of different conditions. Some of those conditions are inflammation (swelling), severe allergies, adrenal problems, arthritis, blood or bone marrow problems. Also eye or vision problems, lung or breathing problems (eg, asthma), lupus, skin conditions, kidney problems, ulcerative colitis, and flare-ups of multiple sclerosis. Methylprednisolone is a corticosteroid (cortisone-like medicine or steroid). It works on the immune system to help relieve swelling, redness, itching, and allergic reactions.
Chepteok interacted with the AIU and in response to the allegations of doping she wrote by email on February 17 2025, that she had tried to think of what she could have taken to explain the Adverse Analytical Finding and noted that her training group shared supplement drinks, especially on long runs. The Athlete stated that she would “accept everything” and “sign the papers and wait for your decision.”
Clearly, the next step is for the AIU to get permission and funding to test that entire training group as soon as possible.
Another Indian athlete caught doping
India rivals Kenya. Not in performance, but in performance-enhancing drug-taking. For example, Pradhan Vilas Kirulakar is now provisionally suspended for alleged doping.
The athlete was caught red-blooded with meldonium running through the veins. In December in Pune, India he ran his half-marathon best of
1:04:22. He is the third Indian athlete suspended in February and fourth already in 2025.
Meldonium is the same PED that Russian tennis player, Maria Sharapova, tested positive for. It was developed in 1970 in the Soviet Union. Since 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency has had it on the banned list of substances.
So, it is safe to assume that the Soviets/Russians were taking it from 1970 to 2016 and, well, probably still take it.
