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Kenyan marathon runner Philemon Kacheran Lokedi has been banned for three years

Kenyan marathon runner Philemon Kacheran Lokedi has been banned for three years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after testing positive for testosterone and its metabolites "with exogenous origin".

Kacheran was provisionally suspended on July 8 in relation to an out-of-competition sample provided in Kapenguria in Kenya on April 27, meaning he missed the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

He had faced a four-year ban for his offence under World Athletics' anti-doping rules, but this was reduced to three years by the AIU due to an "early admission and acceptance of sanction".

The sanctions apply from July 8, the date of Kacheran's provisional suspension.

The World Anti-Doping Agency and Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya have a right to appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Kacheran ran a personal best 2 hours 5min 19sec to finish third in the Valencia Marathon last December.

He had finished fourth in the Enschede Marathon and sixth in the Berlin Marathon earlier that year.

In April of this year, he clocked 2:10:12 to finish eighth in the Rotterdam Marathon.

In 2019, he served as a pacemaker for the successful sub-two-hour marathon attempt by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge.

Kacheran is the ninth athlete from Kenya to be banned by the AIU since the start of July, with the others including the winner of the 2019 Boston and Chicago Marathons Lawrence Cherono.

The AIU has also today provisionally suspended Kenyan athlete Mark Kangogo for the use of prohibited substances norandrosterone and triamcinolone acetonide, although he has not competed in a World Athletics-sanctioned event since 2019.

Kenya is one of seven Category A nations deemed by the AIU to have the highest doping risk and threaten the overall integrity of the sport.