Diana Kipyokei of Kenya, the 2021 Boston Marathon champion, has been provisionally suspended from competition after failing a drug test she took after winning Boston.
According to a press release from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which administers drug testing for major road races, Kipyokei is charged with having metabolites of triamcinolone acetonide—a prohibited substance—in her system. She is also charged with attempted tampering into the AIU’s investigation.
Kipyokei, now 28, could be stripped of her Boston Marathon title if the violation for the presence of a banned substance is proven.
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The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) said in a statement that it will adjust race rankings and provide prize money adjustments to the top finishers of the event, once the appeals process is exhausted.
Kipyokei earned $150,000 for her win. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, who was the 2017 Boston champion, was second, earning $75,000. Mary Ngugi of Kenya was third, taking home $40,000. Monicah Ngige of Kenya was fourth ($25,000), Netsanet Gudeta of Ethiopia was fifth ($18,000), and American Nell Rojas was sixth ($13,500). Prize money extended through 10th place.
In the same release, the AIU said Betty Wilson Lempus, also of Kenya, tested positive for the same substance after her September 2021 victory at a half marathon in France.
Kipyokei and Lempus do not train together, but both are represented by agent Gianna Demadonna.
“They are tested positive and they will pay the consequences,” Demadonna wrote in an email to Runner’s World. “We have a policy in our management that every kind of medicines the athletes take MUST be communicated to the management. They have not done it and, as others athletes who soon will be announced, are guilty. I don’t [need to] wait [for] the final verdict form AIU. For me they are guilty because they contravene to our policy because they never informed us of the medicines they were taken.”
Another top Demadonna runner, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, announced today that she has withdrawn from November’s New York City Marathon due to injury. Demadonna emphasized that Jepchirchir is not under investigation from the AIU, and told Runner’s World that a tear in Jepchirchir’s left gluteus is the cause of the injury. Jepchirchir is the only athlete—male or female—to have won the Olympic, NYC, and Boston marathons.
The AIU’s release said the positive tests for triamicinoloe acetonide are part of a trend, and 10 Kenyan athletes have tested positive for that banned substance between 2021 and 2022. Within the same time period, there were only two other positive tests for the substance in running globally. The AIU says it currently has four additional open investigations into the substance in Kenyan athletes.
Kipyokei’s suspension is not entirely surprising. She did not run the the 2022 Boston Marathon in April, and defending champions are usually invited back to the race. Demadonna said at the time that the AIU was investigating a cortisone shot she got for her tendon in Kenya. She was not suspended at the time, he said, but there was no point in her coming to Boston.
Dr. Philip Skiba, who is the director of sports medicine for the Advocate Medical Group in Chicago and works with elite athletes across many sports, wrote in an email to Runner’s World: “Triamcinolone is most commonly used as an injectable for musculoskeletal pain (arthritic knee, that kind of thing). What the runners might be using it for (other than pain), I can’t say. I suppose they could inject it ... to reduce inflammation after hard training. It doesn’t make much sense outside the realm of injuries.”
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
