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Paris Half Marathon champion banned five years for multiple doping violations

Kenya's Betty Lempus, a 65-minute half marathoner, has been banned for violating anti-doping rules twice, including inventing a fake doctor

betty lempus kenya Photo by: @semideparis/Twitter

Another Kenyan athlete has been banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit after being found to have violated World Athletics anti-doping rules, not once, but twice. 2021 Paris Half Marathon champion Betty Lempus tested positive for the banned substance triamcinolone acetonide, then was caught trying to falsify medical documents to explain the substance, according to the AIU report.

In Sept. 2021, Lempus won the Paris Half Marathon in a record time of 65:46. Her previous best at the half marathon distance was from 2019, where she was five minutes slower.

Lempus was provisionally suspended on Oct. 14, 2022, along with 2021 Boston Marathon champion Diana Kipyokei. Her result at the Paris Half Marathon on Sept. 5, 2021, has been disqualified.

The punishment is two years for the doping violation and four for the attempt to cover it up. She had a year subtracted from the ban since she admitted to both charges after being confronted with evidence, the end result being a five-year suspension.

According to the report, Lempus claimed that she had been injected with triamcinolone acetonide at a Kenyan hospital 16 days before the race. But in June 2022, the medical superintendent from the hospital stated that though Lempus had been present at the hospital that day, she had not received “an intramuscular injection of triamcinolone acetonide on the date.”

Triamcinolone acetonide is a corticosteroid that is about five times as potent as a cortisone shot, which aids recovery and prevents the release of substances that cause inflammation.

The AIU also cited other discrepancies, including false hospital documents (including address and phone number) and that the doctor was not even employed at the hospital.

“We are pleased to conclude this case, especially because this athlete almost got away with her attempt to dupe the authorities and cheat other runners out of their rightful rewards,” said AIU Head Brett Clothier in a press release. “This is the right and fair outcome, and it’s a signal to all that the AIU takes its mission seriously and will pursue every angle to reach the truth.”

Before the ban, Lempus was fifth at the 2021 Prague Marathon, first at the 2019 Cracovia (Krakow) Half Marathon, and second at the 2019 City Half Marathon in Naples, Italy.

Lempus will not be eligible to compete again until Sept. 2026.

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