RUNNER Nelly Jepkosgei has been banned for three years for faking a car accident in order to miss a drug test.
The 800m star’s husband is said to have told testers that she was with her sister in hospital when they visited her home to carry out a test.
Nelly Jepkosgei has been banned for three years after missing a drug testCredit: AP:Associated Press
After the athlete did not return in the alloted hour-window, her representative sent an email to the Athletics Integrity Unit enclosing fake signatures and papers to validate the car crash.
However doping officers then contacted Kenya police and were told there was no record of the alleged accident.
The AIU, which oversees doping and misconduct cases, said in its ruling that Jepkosgei admitted the deception after an investigation.
The former Diamond League runner had listed herself as available for testing at home on March 18, 2020.
But the AIU added that the hospital confirmed a document about her whereabouts presented by Jepkosgei was ‘forged.’
The 28-year-old would have been handed a standard four-year ban for tampering with the anti-doping process.
However it was reduced by 12 months because she later admitted to faking the evidence.
Jepkosgei, the holder of Kenya’s 1000m record, hasn’t competed since 2019.
That was when she won the 800m in the Rabat and Lausanne rounds of the Diamond League.
She was in the process of switching citizenship from Kenya to Bahrain.
Jepkosgei was due to be eligible to represent her new country in August before the announcement of her ban this month.
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
