Kenya's Alex Korio handed two-year doping ban

Kenya's Alex Korio will have to refund the prize money he won at the Beach to Beacon 10km road race in Cape Elizabeth in the U.S. after the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) found him guilty of a doping offense.

The 30-year-old Korio, who had finished eighth during the Jianzhen International Half Marathon in Yangzhou, China, had been slapped with a provisional suspension in May after he failed three whereabouts cases and missed planned anti-doping tests.

He was allowed to defend himself before the AIU, but his submission failed to convince the officials.

"The athlete failed to respond and to provide any explanation concerning the apparent three missed tests," said the AIU in a statement on Friday.

He has since been handed a two-year ban from all sports competition effective July 19, 2019. The ban will end on July 19, 2021.

However, the AIU ruled that Korio will face the bane of forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, points, prizes and appearance money which he may have earned starting July last year.

Korio becomes the 55th athlete from Kenya to be banned in five years, joining a ballooning list that includes former World Marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang, Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong, Rita Jeptoo, the Boston and Chicago marathon champion and Asbel Kiprop, the former World 1,500m champion.

Korio had missed scheduled tests on Jan. 20, April 11 and July 19, 2019. This year alone, Kenya has also seen former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang, Kenneth Kipkemoi, Mercy Jerotich, James Kibet and former world junior 800m champion Alfred Kipketer suspended and charged for whereabouts failures by the AIU.

"In short, athletes violate the anti-doping rules when they have any combination of three missed tests or filing failures within any 12-month period. That period beginning on the day of the first relevant missed test or filing failure," the AIU said.

A missed test means a failure by the athlete to be available for testing at the location and time specified in the 60-minute time slot identified in his whereabouts filing for the day in question. A filing failure is to make an accurate and complete whereabouts filing that enables the athlete to be located for testing at the times and locations set out in the whereabouts filing.

posted Friday July 10th