Rita Jeptoo Doping Rumors Confirmed As Marathon Runner Fails Second Test
Rita Jeptoo doping rumors have been confirmed. The athlete tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug in tests using two different blood samples, sample “A” and sample “B.” Jeptoo won the Chicago Marathon twice, and she won the Boston Marathon three times, according to the New York Times. However, Jeptoo’s doping is sure to sully those victories, which may be even voided due to her use of a performance-enhancing substance called erythropoietin. Jeptoo is married to a middle distance runner, Noah Busienei.
In January 2015, hearings will be held regarding the positive Rita Jeptoo doping tests. It is possible that the 33-year-old champion marathon runner from Kenya will be disqualified from her Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon wins. She set the Boston Marathon course record at 2:18:57 in 2014, but that record may not stand pending a decision following next year’s hearings.
If Jeptoo’s victories are annulled, it won’t just be bragging rights at stake. There could be huge financial repercussions for the runner as well. If she loses her 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon title and the 2013-14 World Marathon Majors title she received after winning in Chicago, she stands to lose nearly $600,000 in prize money from that one race alone, reported Chicago Tribune. Of that sum, the $500,000 World Marathon Majors prize money is on hold due to Jeptoo’s previous positive test results for sample “A.”
Athletics Kenya, the Kenyan track and field federation, announced late this week that a “B” sample from Rita Jeptoo had tested positive for the banned endurance-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO). EPO works by increasing the user red blood cell count, which in turn improves the efficiency of oxygen use throughout the body. It has been around since the 1980s and used by athletes shortly after its inception. Use of EPO was undetectable until 2000, when a new test was developed to detect the substance, according to Bike-Pure.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, another famous athlete caught doping admitted that he would still be doing it if only he hadn’t been caught. Celebrated cyclist Lance Armstrong explained why he would have kept denying the allegations if he could, and it’s all about consistency.
“Once you say ‘no’ you have to keep saying ‘no.’ If this stuff hadn’t taken place with the federal investigation, I’d probably still be saying ‘no’ with the same conviction and tone as before. But that gig is up.”
Do you think Rita Jeptoo should be disqualified from the 2014 Boston Marathon due to testing positive for doping? Comments are welcome.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
