Gloved hand holding blood tubes like those from an EPO test such as the one taken by Peres Jepchirchir

Peres Jepchirchir Suspended for EPO: The Positive Test Came Before Her Sydney Win

Peres Jepchirchir, the 2021 Olympic marathon champion and 2025 world champion, has been provisionally suspended for EPO. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced it on 23 October: a sample collected out of competition in Kenya, before she won the Sydney Marathon, returned an adverse analytical finding for erythropoietin.

What the AIU announced

The AIU, the independent body that runs anti-doping for world athletics, posted the news on its official X account, because its website is down for maintenance. The two-part post only says that the test was taken in Kenya, out of competition, before the Sydney race.

A provisional suspension stops Peres Jepchirchir from racing while the case is resolved. Any sanction comes later, and in the meantime she can ask for her B sample to be analysed and defend herself before the disciplinary tribunal. The AIU has not yet given the exact date of the test.

Who Peres Jepchirchir is

Peres Jepchirchir was born on 27 September 1993 and is 33. Her World Athletics profile lists these titles:

  • Olympic gold in Sapporo 2021, in 2:27:20.
  • World Championships gold in Tokyo 2025, in 2:24:43.
  • Three world half marathon titles (Cardiff 2016, Gdynia 2020 and Riga 2023, at the World Road Running Championships).
  • Wins in New York 2021 (2:22:39), Boston 2022 (2:21:01) and London 2024 (2:16:16).

Her half marathon best is 1:05:06, from Ras Al Khaimah in 2017. Her marathon best came in Valencia.

The Valencia connection

Peres Jepchirchir won the Valencia Marathon on 6 December 2020 in 2:17:16, in an elite-only edition held during the pandemic. She returned on 7 December 2025 and finished second in 2:14:43, her personal best. If you are thinking of running it, the Valencia Marathon guide covers the course and how to enter.

In principle, those results stand. Anti-doping rules disqualify results from the date of the positive sample, unless the investigation finds evidence of earlier doping.

Smiling amateur runners crossing a marathon finish line

What happens to her Sydney win

According to the official results on World Athletics, Peres Jepchirchir won the Sydney Marathon on 30 August 2026 in 2:18:31. Kenya’s Irine Chepet Cheptai was second (2:22:11) and Ethiopia’s Shure Demise third (2:22:33).

The World Anti-Doping Code disqualifies every result obtained between the sample collection and the suspension. If the positive is confirmed, the Sydney win would go to Cheptai, along with the prize money and points from that day. Sydney joined the World Marathon Majors in 2025; the Sydney Marathon guide explains the race.

What EPO is and why it is banned

Erythropoietin is a hormone made by the kidneys that tells the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. More red cells means the blood carries more oxygen to the muscles, which in a marathon lets a runner hold a faster pace. The synthetic version is used in medicine to treat anaemia, for example in kidney patients.

The WADA Prohibited List puts it in class S2.1, banned at all times, in and out of competition. Every substance in class S2 is “non-specified”. For that group the Code sets a four-year ban, which is what Peres Jepchirchir faces unless she shows the violation was not intentional.

Technician in gloves placing a blood tube in a laboratory centrifuge

Raising red cell counts carries its own risks. Blood with far more red cells gets thicker, which raises the risk of thrombosis, more so if the runner is dehydrated.

A growing list

A day earlier, on 22 October, the AIU announced a six-year ban for Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga, the 2019 Tokyo Marathon winner, for a corticosteroid and a forged prescription; we covered it in the Ruti Aga ban. In June, Kibiwott Kandie, who set the half marathon world record in Valencia in 2020, was banned too.

According to the AIU, its road running integrity programme covers up to 300 professional road runners. It is funded by World Athletics, the World Marathon Majors, World Athletics Label road races, athletes and their representatives, and shoe brands including adidas, ASICS, Nike and On.

Blood tube on a lab report, the kind of test that found EPO in the Peres Jepchirchir case

What it means for amateur runners

Every positive at the top makes people doubt the times at the front of the race. If you are training for a marathon, your own times are the useful reference: the race time predictor starts from your real results and gives you a target you can hit.

There are legal ways to improve oxygen delivery. Altitude is one of them, with the limits we cover in altitude training for runners. Iron and an adequate diet help if you are deficient, and a blood test will tell you whether you are.

Female runner training on a dirt road between trees

The Peres Jepchirchir case is still open. When the process ends, the AIU will publish the full decision, which usually includes the test date and the defence’s arguments.

Frequently asked questions

Why has Peres Jepchirchir been suspended?

Because of an adverse analytical finding for EPO in a sample taken out of competition in Kenya, before the 2026 Sydney Marathon. The AIU provisionally suspended her on 23 October.

Will Peres Jepchirchir lose her Sydney title?

If the positive is confirmed, yes. The World Anti-Doping Code disqualifies results from the sample date, and the win would pass to Irine Chepet Cheptai, second in 2:22:11.

How long a ban could she get?

For EPO, a non-specified substance, the standard ban is four years. It can be reduced if she proves there was no intent or admits the violation early, and increased if there are aggravating circumstances.

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