Kenya’s 2021 New York City Marathon champion Albert Korir has been banned for five years after he admitted using a banned performance-enhancing drug, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) says.

The AIU said on Monday that Korir had received a one-year reduction from the original six-year suspension “based on an early admission and acceptance of the sanction”.

Korir, 32, tested positive for the synthetic form of erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates red blood cell production, during out-of-competition tests in Kenya in October.

His five-year ban will run from January 8, the date he was provisionally suspended, until January 7, 2031.

Korir won the 2021 New York marathon in a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 22 seconds and came third in 2023 with a personal best time of 2:06:57.

He won the Ottawa Marathon in 2019 and 2025.

Korir’s sanction comes nearly six months after compatriot Ruth Chepngetich, the current world marathon record holder, was banned for three years after admitting the use of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a banned diuretic used as a masking agent.

Kenya worked to clean up its image after a string of doping scandals around the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics led to it being declared noncompliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

More than 140 Kenyan runners, mainly long-distance athletes, have been sanctioned for drugs offences since then.

In June 2024, Kenya handed out its first lifetime ban to marathon runner Beatrice Toroitich and a six-year ban to 10km record holder Rhonex Kipruto.

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