Lawrence Cherono of Kenya suspended after testing positive for trimetazidine

The seventh-fastest marathoner of all time, Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono, who was one of the favourites to win the marathon at the 2022 World Championships, has been provisionally suspended on the day before the race, after testing positive for a banned substance. 

Cherono tested positive for trimetazidine, which is used to treat chest pain resulting from a lack of blood supply and oxygen to the heart. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said in a press release that there were delays in the processing of his test sample, which was taken on May 23. The delay made it impossible for another athlete to take his spot on Team Kenya.

The drug trimetazidine helps metabolize fatty acids, which helps the body use oxygen, allowing for more blood flow to the heart and limits quick changes in blood pressure.

The 33-year-old Kenyan finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and won both Boston and the Chicago Marathon in 2019. Cherono has a personal best time of 2:03:04 from the 2020 Valencia Marathon, where he finished second.

The AIU has provisionally suspended Kenyan marathon runner, Lawrence Cherono and 400m runner, Randolph Ross of the USA; both athletes are out of @WCHoregon22.
Press Release – https://t.co/G2wzBiMoiu#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/3mrJ3U22uK

— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) July 16, 2022

Back-to-back NCAA champion and U.S. 400m Olympian Randolph Ross was also kicked out from the World Athletics Championships on the day before his race for tampering with the anti-doping process after an unsuccessful testing attempt on June 18. 

The AIU announced on Saturday that Ross will be provisionally suspended a month after officials failed to locate him to take an anti-doping test. Ross won the Olympic gold with the U.S. 4x400m relay team in Tokyo.

This is potentially bad on multiple levels.

Ross, who was in the NCAA this year, gets suspended for tampering.

His dad, who is his coach & a very prominent NCAA coach (now at Tennessee), was suspended back in the day as part of BALCO investigation.

Need lots of explanations… https://t.co/Qj4fAGxC2w

— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) July 16, 2022

Athletes must give anti-doping authorities detailed lists of where they’ll be so testers can reach them without notice to collect samples when the athletes are not competing. In some cases, three missed tries can result in an anti-doping violation. AIU did not release the specifics of Ross’ case, other than to say that “the allegation arises out of the athlete’s conduct during an investigation into a potential whereabouts violation.”

The 2022 World Athletics Championships are taking place from July 15-25 from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.