Kenyan Geoffrey Yegon has been suspended for doping. He tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug (PED) triamcinolone acetonide.
The 26-year-old has run the half marathon as fast as 59:44, which he accomplished in 2016 in Venlo, Netherlands. Yegon’s best marathon happened three years latest. He ran 2:12:39 in Shenzhen, China.
According to a statement from AIU, athletes often use the oral medication to cut weight while maintaining strength.
Yegon’s last competitive race was on December 1, 2023, where he won the Singapore Marathon with a time of 2:16:06.
The Kenyan government cut the $5 million (USD) funding for anti-doping in 2024. It has promised to reinstate the funding sometime in the future. During the period when the funding was in place hundreds of Kenyan athletes tested positive for PEDs, or missed three tests in 12 months or were charged with blood profile anomalies in their Athlete Biological Passport that is consistent with doping.
During that period, the Athletics Integrity Unit exposed mass doping in the country once considered the greatest in middle-distance and distance running.
