Running News Daily

Kenyan athlete Agness Barsosio has been handed a five-year doping ban

Kenyan athlete Agness Jeruto Barsosio has been handed a five-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for violating the World Anti-doping rules.

The 40-year-old star athlete was found guilty of the use of a Prohibited Substance/Method – specifically an ABP case.

Disturbingly, Barsosio's doping violation follows closely on the heels of her sister Stella Barsosio's own doping ban. 

Stella was banned earlier in February this year for a two-year period by the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) for the presence of the prohibited substance, trimetazidine.

In a turn that has shocked fans and raised eyebrows in the sports community, Agness Barsosio went on to defy her provisional suspension, which was imposed on August 11, 2023. 

Even with the suspension looming over her, she audaciously participated in the 18th edition of the Brazzaville International Half-Marathon on September 13, 2023, in Brazzaville, Congo. 

The race was eventually won by fellow Kenyan Lilian Jelagat, who clocked an impressive 1:09.55. She was closely followed by Ethiopia’s Emebet Niguse Mamo with a time of 1:14.26. 

Barsosio, despite her participation under a cloud of suspicion, managed to clinch the third spot, finishing the race in 1:18.55.

To make matters even more intricate, Agness Barsosio is married to Thorsten Steffen, who is known for organizing races for athletes through his entity, Afro Athletics Promotion. 

Interestingly, Steffen is not registered as an athlete representative by World Athletics or Athletics Kenya, which might raise further questions on the influence and involvement he might have had in this controversy.