Seven-year doping ban for former world half-marathon record-holder Kibiwott Kandie

Kenyan runner ran 57:32 for the half in 2020 and is a Commonwealth 10,000m bronze medallist.

Kibiwott Kandie, the previous half-marathon world record-holder from Kenya, has been banned for seven years after admitting to refusing to undergo pattern assortment and tampering with the doping management course of.

Kandie would have acquired an eight-year ban however was given a one-year discount for an early admission and acceptance of the sanction, which suggests he’s not eligible to return to the game till 2032.

The 30-year-old was discovered to have breached the anti-doping guidelines referring to “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Undergo Pattern Assortment by an Athlete” and “Tampering or Tried Tampering with any a part of Doping Management by an Athlete or different Particular person”.

Kandie, a three-time Valencia Half Marathon winner in 2020, 2022 and 2023, set a world document of 57:32 minutes in 2020, though he now sits No.3 on the world all-time rankings behind Jacob Kiplimo and Yomif Kejelcha.

The Athletics Integrity Unit stated in a press release: „In a testomony to the AIU’s strong investigative capabilities, Kandie’s preliminary explanations for his refusal to supply a pattern have been uncovered as being false after the AIU carried out a forensic evaluation of his cellphone and monetary data, whereas additionally coordinating with Kenyan authorities to verify that paperwork submitted by the athlete from Kenya have been faux.

„After being provisionally suspended on 14 March 2025 for his refusal to undergo a doping check, Kandie was additional charged by the AIU with tampering on 6 Could 2026.“

“This case serves as a reminder that no athlete is above the foundations within the sport of athletics,” stated Head of the AIU, Brett Clothier. „The AIU conducts a complicated anti-doping program that rigorously exams the most effective athletes on the earth, and if an athlete refuses a check, it locations the integrity of the game in danger. The AIU has a robust forensic functionality and can completely examine such circumstances to make sure the reality comes out ultimately.“

Explaining what occurred, the AIU continued: „On 1 March 2025, a Doping Management Officer (DCO) and a chaperone arrived at Kandie’s residential handle in Kenya to conduct an Out-of-Competitors check. Regardless of signing the digital Doping Management Type to acknowledge he was required to supply samples, Kandie delayed the Pattern assortment course of and was noticed making quite a few cellphone calls earlier than in the end refusing to cooperate with the DCO, informing him he “had an essential cost to make” to Nationwide Development Authority officers who have been about to shut down his development website two hours away in Eldoret.

„Kandie was warned by the DCO that any refusal to be examined would end in the identical penalties as testing constructive – penalties which Kandie stated he understood. He left the home to make additional calls, and ultimately left the property by automotive.

„Following the failed try to check, the AIU issued Kandie with a Discover of Allegation on 13 March 2025 and performed an in-person interview concerning a breach of Rule 2.3 ADR.  The AIU additionally requested that the athlete present his cellphone for forensic imaging.

„Evaluation of Kandie’s cellphone revealed that, in the course of the check try on 1 March 2025, the athlete made a number of calls to a quantity linked to a registered nurse in Eldoret. After collaborating with the Anti-Doping Company of Kenya (ADAK) to amass the athlete’s monetary data, the AIU found 11 transfers to the nurse within the 12 months previous to the check try. Within the second of three interviews with the AIU, Kandie claimed the nurse was somebody who offered him small home goods and analysed his haemoglobin ranges. Kandie stated the repeated calls to her on 1 March 2025 have been as a result of he was on account of meet her in Eldoret the identical day for the sale of some home goods.

„Following imposition of a Provisional Suspension on 14 March 2025, Kandie made an utility to the AIU for his provisional suspension to be lifted. As a part of that utility, Kandie submitted a Certificates of Utility for an Environmental Impression Evaluation from the Nationwide Atmosphere Administration Authority (NEMA), which purported to indicate that he was urgently required in Eldoret on 1 March 2025 to help with an inspection of a development website by NEMA representatives.

„Nonetheless, additional investigations, with help from ADAK, revealed that the doc submitted to the AIU by Kandie was faux. NEMA confirmed that the appliance reference quantity supplied on the Certificates didn’t exist, that Kandie’s identify was not in NEMA’s data, that there was no document of an inspection on the Eldoret website on 1 March 2025, and that the Certificates was ’not real and deemed to be invalid.‘

„On 6 Could 2026, Kandie was formally charged with violations of ADR 2.3 and ADR 2.5. Kandie admitted each violations and accepted the asserted interval of Ineligibility. Kandie’s ban runs from 14 March 2025 (the date of provisional suspension) till 13 March 2032.“