Rhonex Kipruto, 10km road world record holder, temporarily suspended for doping

Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto, the 2019 10,000m world bronze medalist and 10km road world record holder, has been provisionally suspended for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Wednesday (17 May). .

Rhonex Kipruto is disqualified for “use of a prohibited substance or method” on the basis of his biological passport, he indicates the AIU without further details. The biological passport, a monitoring of selected biological variables over time, allows the monitoring of athletes: it is decisive for targeting the tests, and also allows for sanctions without positive anti-doping control in case of unanimity of a panel of experts. . “I don’t cheat or do drugs! The truth is on my side. That’s all I can say”posted the athlete on his Instagram account.

At 23, Rhonex Kipruto is a safe bet in Kenyan athletics: he won bronze in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, before becoming the world record holder in the 10km road race (26’24”) in Valencia in 2020. He finished ninth in the 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The IAU, an independent body responsible for testing and investigating since 2017, exposed large-scale doping in Kenya in April, “better and better organised” with “the involvement of people with medical experience”.