Ruth Jebet, Rio 2016 Olympic steeple champ, gets 4 year ban

Ruth Jebet is the 2016 Rio Olympic champion at the steeplechase. On 27 August 2016, Ruth Jebet set a new WR in the steeplechase, in 8:52.78.

Then, the wall came tumbling down.

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On 1 December 2017, the Bahraini (born Kenyan) tested positive for EPO. Ruth Jebet was given a provisional ban in 2018 after the positive test of December 2017.

Ruth Jebet wins gold in Rio 2016, photo by Olympics.org

On 4 March, 2020, the French newsite and digital TV, www.france24.com that the Athletic Integrity Unit (AIU) had announced that Ruth Jebet has been banned for 4 years, for using EPO, a blood booster meant for controlling Leukemia. EPO was first developed the AMGEN company, which helped the then IAAF (now World Athletics) in the 1990s to understand the drug and how endurance athletes were illegally using this to gain a fitness advantage.

This means that Ruth Jebet will be unable to defend her title from Rio in Tokyo 2020 (which begins 24 July 2020-ends 9 August 2020).

Jebet’s world record of 8:52.78, set August 2016, we decimated in August 2018 by Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech, who is also the 2019 World Champion, with her 8:44.32. Chepkoech’s mark was put under the proverbial microscope due to the fact that two of the past 3 WR’s in the women’s steeplechase have both been banned since their world leading marks.

The @WorldAthletics Disciplinary Tribunal has banned #Rio2016 @Olympics gold medalist & former women’s 3000m steeplechase world record holder Ruth Jebet of Bahrain for 4 years with effect from 04 Feb 2018.
Read the decision here â¬‡ï¸
https://t.co/cBkQOqSHT4 #AIUNews #CleanSport pic.twitter.com/VLUDsZjfHW
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) March 4, 2020

The following appeared on the Athletics Integrity Unit site.

13/02/2020 Ruth Jebet BRN Presence of a Prohibited Substance (EPO) – (Article 2.1) 4 years ineligibility from 18 February 2018 DQ results: from 1 December 2017 to 18 February 2018 – DT decision appealable

To see more on the Athletics integrity site: https://www.athleticsintegrity.org

To learn more about EPO and its abuses, go to: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/questions-answers/epo-detection

To read original France 24 story on Jebet ban: https://www.france24.com/en/20200304-four-year-doping-ban-for-olympic-women-s-steeple-champion-jebet

To learn more on Ruth Jebet: https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/bahrain/ruth-jebet-282669

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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