The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Wednesday that Kenyan Lawrence Cherono, the former Boston and Chicago marathon winner, had been banned for seven years for breaking anti-doping rules.
The AIU lowered the total punishment by one year as a result of admission and acceptance, but it nonetheless issued a four-year ban for the infraction and an additional four-year ban for interfering or attempting to tamper with the doping control.
After testing positive for trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample, Cherono, 35, was placed on provisional suspension in July 2022. The AIU concluded that the athlete lacked an exemption for the prohibited drug.
The Kenyan first reported to the AIU that he was having stomach issues and that a doctor had given him an injection of an unidentified chemical. However, he then changed his story and blamed a prescription mix-up involving his wife.
The initial preliminary suspension date of July 16, 2022, marks the beginning of the seven-year prohibition.
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