Kenya's Cherono gets seven-year ban for doping violation

Kenyan Lawrence Cherono has been handed a seven-year ban after the former Boston and Chicago marathon winner was found to have violated anti-doping regulations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Wednesday.

The AIU imposed a ban of four years for the violation together with another four-year ban for the tampering or attempted tampering of the doping control, but reduced the overall ban by one year due to admission and acceptance.

Cherono, 35, had been provisionally suspended in July 2022 after testing positive for trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample, and the AIU determined that the athlete did not have an exemption for the banned substance.

The Kenyan told the AIU that he had been experiencing stomach problems and said a doctor had injected him with an unknown substance, but later gave a different explanation, blaming a mix-up with his wife's medication.

The seven-year ban starts from July 16, 2022, the date of the original provisional suspension.