COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Last year’s U.S. 1,500-meter champion Jonah Koech’s title was stripped and he received a three-year ban for blood doping, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Monday.
The Kenyan-born 29-year-old’s ban came after abnormal results on what’s known as his athlete biological passport - a baseline test performed on athletes when they enter the drug-testing pool against which later results are compared.
USADA said passport tests that produce “blood biomarkers” and have been used since 2009 are effective in detecting blood-doping methods such as the use of transfusions and the use of blood-boosting drugs like erythropoietin (EPO).
Koech, who came to the U.S. for college and became a citizen while running for the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, ran a personal best 3 minutes, 30.17 seconds at last year’s nationals, then went to worlds and finished 13th.
USADA said the abnormal samples were collected during nationals and his ban will run through July 2029, which would make him ineligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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