The Athlete Integrity Unit (AIU) has handed Kenyan distance running star Emmaculate Anyango Achol (the second-fastest female 10K road runner in history) a six-year suspension for doping violations. Achol was provisionally suspended in October for the presence and use of testosterone and erythropoietin (EPO) in her doping samples. She has received a longer sentence than the usual four years due to “aggravating circumstances,” including the use of multiple prohibited substances. Her results dating back to Feb. 3, 2024, have been disqualified.
The 24-year-old first began turning heads in January when she became the second-fastest female runner in history over 10 km, clocking 28:57 in Valencia and taking second to her compatriot, Agnes Jebet Ngetich, who ran 28:46. Both athletes went under Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s previous world record of 29:14, and are the only two women in history to break the 29-minute barrier. (Achol did not qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.) This result will stand, since it predates Feb. 3, 2024.
Metabolites of testosterone were found in no fewer than three samples taken at different times, both in and out of competition, in the winter and spring of 2024 (beginning Feb. 3, 2024); a fourth sample showed the presence of EPO. Both testosterone and EPO enhance red blood cell count, allowing more oxygen to reach an athlete’s muscles–thereby boosting aerobic capacity, endurance and recovery. Both are prohibited at all times, whether in competition or out of competition.
The AIU has banned Emmaculate Anyango Achol (Kenya) for 6 years from 26 September 2024 for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Testosterone and EPO). DQ results from 3 February 2024
Details here: https://t.co/NR3QXXHXpo pic.twitter.com/T0QVw21Qyt— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) November 22, 2024
Athletes are required to explain themselves when they fail drug tests; Achol said she did not know how the substances got into her system, adding that she had been treated in hospital for a medical condition that causes fainting, that she did not know what she had been injected with, nor did she remember having been treated. She denied having deliberately doped. She produced a number of hospital receipts and X-rays in her defense, but AIU representatives found they did not explain the presence of the banned substances in her samples.
She was charged on Oct. 18 and given until Nov. 1 to provide a satisfactory explanation, but did not respond by the stated deadline. Achol’s ban is effective from Sept. 26, 2024, for a period of six years.
