Running News Daily

Former Euro XC champ faces three year doping ban for EPO

Olympian and two-time European cross country champ Aras Kaya has been given a three-year ban for doping after testing positive for erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is a hormone that promotes red blood cell production, improving endurance.

Kaya, 28, was born in Kenya but competes for Turkey, after moving there in 2015 and receiving citizenship in 2016. He tested positive at the Brasov Running Festival 10K in Brasov, Romania in September, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Kaya was given a four-year ban but admitted he was at fault and opted not to fight the case, reducing his ban to three years.

In 2021, Kaya took silver at the Euro cross country champs, runner-up to Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and ran to bronze in 2018. He was set to run last weekend’s Euro Cross in Turin, Italy, but was a late withdrawal with his doping ban imminent, Athletics Weekly reported.

Kaya won the 2016 Euro cross country senior men’s title and took second in 2019 to Robel Fsiha of Sweden. Fsiha tested positive for artificial testosterone in 2020 and was banned for four years, elevating Kaya to the gold medal position. Kaya has a half-marathon PB of 60:51 and finished third in the 2022 European 10,000m cup.

In the last year, Kaya was reported to have been in the process of receiving Russian nationalization, as he has been based in the Russian city of Kazan.