Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang eager to return to racing after 4-year ban

Wilson Kipsang, the former world marathon record holder from Kenya, is eyeing a return to competitive running after completing a four-year doping ban. In an interview with Nation Sport, Kipsang said he was eager to re-enter the racing scene and expressed his gratitude for a second chance at life following a recent accident involving his family.

Former marathon world record-holder Wilson Kipsang receives 4-year doping ban

Kipsang’s ban, imposed by the Athletics Integrity Unit in January 2020, stemmed from four “whereabouts failures” (usually meaning the athlete was not where he said he would be when anti-doping officials showed up for out-of-competition testing) between April 2018 and May 2019. The athlete’s sanction was extended due to alleged tampering with the investigation by providing false evidence and witness testimony.

Kipsang is the former world record holder in the marathon who ran 2:03:23 at Berlin in 2013; he also won bronze in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics. He is a double winner of the Frankfurt Marathon (2010 and 2011) and also won the London Marathon twice (in 2012 and 2014), the New York Marathon (2014) and the Tokyo Marathon (2017). Kipsang finished third at the 2018 Berlin Marathon, when Eliud Kipchoge set what was then a new world marathon record, in 2:01:39.

The runner, accompanied by his wife and two sons, was in a car accident in early January; it was the second serious vehicle accident Kipsang has been in the past four years. The family was declared out of danger after receiving medical care at a hospital.

Kipsang is preparing for a competitive comeback. The athlete, now 41, highlighted his focus on participating in major marathons this year, hinting at either the Tokyo Marathon on March 3, the Paris Marathon on April 7 or the Hamburg Marathon on April 24.