One small mistake can cost an athlete everything in the sports realm where every millisecond counts. That’s the harsh reality faced by athletes and currently, Kenyan track and field athletes and their careers are at high risk. What happened? Since 2024, many Kenyan athletes have faced bans for prohibited substance abuse. With the Boston Marathon looming, several elite athletes have been provisionally suspended, reigniting debates over Kenya’s doping crisis.According to the Athletics Weekly X post that is going viral, the Kenyan runner was suspended due to a doping violation. The caption reads, “Kenya’s Brimin Kipkorir is provisionally suspended for doping violations. The winner of the 2024 Sydney and 2022/2023 Frankfurt marathons has been suspended due to EPO and furosemide.” But why are these substances banned?Kenya’s Brimin Kipkorir provisionally suspended for doping violation.The winner of the 2024 Sydney and 2022/2023 Frankfurt Marathon has been suspended due to the presence of EPO and furosemide.https://t.co/J72RttCIl8— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) February 24, 2025EPO (erythropoietin) boosts red blood cell production and enhances endurance, while furosemide is a diuretic used to mask other drugs. Both of these compounds are not allowed in sports because they are unfair and can lead to safety problems, like an improper heart rate and dehydration. The 2024 Sydney Marathon winner has tested positive based on the test competition on November 22, 2024 samples.Kipkorir clinched the gold at Sydney with a clocking time of 2 hr 06 min 18 sec and also won the Frankfurt Marathon in 2022 and 2023. But now, his future is at stake. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) released a statement on the ban. The statement can be read: “The AIU has provisionally suspended Brimin Misoi Kipkorir (Kenya) for the presence/use of prohibited substances (EPO, furosemide). This sample was collected out of competition on 22 November 2024.”Just months ago, Kipkorir was making headlines with impressive performances, but now, his career hangs in the balance. Kipkorir’s case isn’t isolated—it’s part of a troubling pattern that has put Kenya’s running dominance under scrutiny. Moreover, Kipkorir is not the only one, the list is still increasing, and this is all happening since the Kenyan government started the Enhanced Anti-Doping Project.Kenyan athletes under fire as doping bans rise before BostonKenya’s fight against doping has intensified, and the results are evident—more athletes are getting caught. The Enhanced Anti-Doping Project, a collaborative effort by Athletics Kenya (AK), was launched in 2024 to curb doping. Instead, it is getting worse, and despite a pledged $5 million annual investment, doping cases surged, exposing Kenya as the sport’s dirtiest nation.The Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy & Sports, Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), AK, and AIU launched the EAD project. Why was there a need to implement this project? According to Athletics Illustrated, about 300 Kenyan athletes have been punished since 2015.Because at one point the situation was so bad that officials had to discuss the possibility of the unthinkable. Hence, the Enhanced Anti-Doping Project came into existence in order to drop down the doping count. This new program tackles doping issues with all-encompassing tactics that include more testing, education, and cooperative research. Other athletes, who have been banned before the Boston Marathon?Well, the list is extensive and includes some well-known names. One such name is Brimin Kipkorir, who was the third man to be banned after Ronald Kimeli Kurgat and Geoffrey Yegon. Kurgat happens to be the winner of the 2024 Nairobi Marathon in October 2024, clocking 2:13:05. And now, the 39-year-old has been found positive for a prohibited performance-enhancing substance (PED): triamcinolone acetonide. Coincidentally, he ran the same marathon in 2012 at a personal best of 2:11:08. Another athlete from Kenya, Geoffrey Yegon, suffered from the same doping violation. His performances were artistically at the top, like a half-marathon when he clocked a time of 59:44 out of the Venlo Marathon of 2016 in the Netherlands. This year also he has managed to get records when racing in a city such as Shenzen, China, where he ran almost two hours and a half, his personal record of 2:12:39 However, that’s not all.In May 2204, two Kenyan runners, Rodgers Kwemoi and Josphat Kipkemboi Kemei, were also suspended for doping. Rodgers Kwemoi was found guilty of widespread blood doping and was banned for six years. Can you imagine that in a span of six years, from July 2016 to September 2022, his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) revealed 18 cases of blood doping?However, Josphat Kipkemboi Kemei was banned for five years for using Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator (CERA) and metabolites of testosterone. In April 2023, the first time around, a negative test result was reported, but these breaches were found during the out-of-competition tests in 2024. Will this crackdown serve as a turning point, or is there more to uncover? Only time will tell.The post Major Doping Scandal Unveiled Before Boston Marathon as Multiple Athletes Face Ban for Prohibited Substance Abuse appeared first on EssentiallySports.