World marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for EPO in an out-of-competition sample collected in Kenya before her Sydney Marathon victory, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Friday, Oct. 23.

The finding places the 33-year-old Kenyan’s career on hold a year after she won the world marathon title in Tokyo. Jepchirchir also won Olympic marathon gold at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.

The AIU said the sample returned an “adverse analytical finding for EPO.” Erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, is a banned blood booster that increases red blood cell production.

Finding follows Sydney Marathon victory

Jepchirchir won the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 30 in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 31 seconds, finishing more than three minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Irine Cheptai. The AIU said the sample was collected before that race.

Sydney was her fourth World Marathon Majors victory, following wins in New York in 2021, Boston in 2022 and London in 2024.

Suspension is not a final ruling

Jepchirchir cannot compete while the provisional suspension remains in place. The action is not a final determination that she committed an anti-doping rule violation; her case remains subject to the disciplinary process.

Sydney Marathon organizers said they were “extremely disappointed” by the announcement but emphasized that the runner was entitled to due process.

“Jepchirchir is entitled to due process, and we will make no further comment on the case until that process has concluded,” organizers said in a statement Friday.

Her agent, Gianni Demadonna, expressed dismay in an emailed statement reported by Reuters. “I can only say that I feel terrible about what happened and I think it’s only right that an athlete who uses the performance enhancing drugs should be disqualified,” Demadonna said, according to the news agency.

A former half-marathon world record holder, Jepchirchir also won global half-marathon titles in 2016, 2020 and 2023. Her third title came at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia.