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Nairobi, May 18 (HS). Kenyan Olympian and former U-20 world 10,000m champion Rogers Kwemoi has been handed an extended six-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for blood doping.
In a decision signed on April 24, 2024, and made public by the AIU on Friday, Quemoi was allowed to use blood boosters to improve his performance due to abnormalities in his athlete biological passport (ABP), Xinhua reported. Was found guilty.
Let us tell you that Athlete Biological Passport is an anti-doping tool which monitors selected biological factors to reveal the effects of doping.
The 27-year-old sprinter was considered the future of long-distance track running in the East African country after her impressive victory at the 2016 World Under-20 Championships in Poland.
A three-judge panel headed by David Sharp in London found him guilty of blood doping, according to Xinhua. All titles, records and earnings earned by Quemoi between 18 July 2016 and 8 August 2023 will also be confiscated, in addition to being ordered to pay US$3,000 to World Athletics as part of the costs of prosecuting his case. Order has also been given.
Quemoi, who set a record of 59:15 on the Istanbul Half Marathon course in 2022, chose a three-judge hearing to argue his case through a London lawyer, who complained about his adverse analytical findings by the AIU. After being informed, he was represented free of charge.
The judges rejected his defence's argument that the abnormalities in his ABP were the result of natural variations due to physiological responses influenced by constant changes in climate, altitude and other environmental factors, while the panel of experts agreed with his argument that high Altitude affects ABP values, yet they identified significant aggravating circumstances that point to manipulation of blood taken in the lead-up to “the most important athletics competitions.”
Quemoi's profile revealed several features of blood doping during competition preparation, and it was highly likely that a prohibited substance or method was used.
Quemoi was thus found guilty of anti-doping rule violations by engaging in a “deliberate, systematic and sophisticated doping regime.”
Quemoi's ineligibility period was extended by a further two years from the standard four, meaning his ban will expire in 2029. He burst onto the international scene as a teenager at the 2016 Under-20 Championships in Poland, where he won gold in the 10,000 meters in 27:25.23.
Quemoi then won a Commonwealth bronze medal over the same distance at the 2017 Gold Coast Games in Australia and finished fourth at the Doha 2019 World Championships.
At Tokyo 2020, he finished 7th in the 25-lap race. Kwemoi last played in Kenya colors at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, finishing 15th.