Kenya\u2019s Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong has been suspended for four years for doping.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old was found to have taken banned blood booster EPO in an out-of-competition test in her home country.<\/p>\n
Sumgong, who also tested positive for a banned substance in 2012, won the London Marathon in 2016 before claiming gold in Rio, becoming the first Kenyan woman to take the title.<\/p>\n
Her ban runs from 3 April, when she was provisionally suspended.<\/p>\n
EPO, also known as erythropoietin, is a hormone that can increase endurance and, in athletics, is used mainly by long distance-runners.<\/p>\n
Between 2011 and 2016, more than 40 Kenyan track-and-field athletes failed doping tests.<\/p>\n
Among those sanctioned was Sumgong\u2019s former training partner Rita Jeptoo, 36, who was banned for four years following a positive test for EPO in 2014.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Sumgong was one of a number of Kenyan athletes who welcomed a new initiative to eradicate doping, agreeing to be monitored by doctors appointed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and Athletics Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be easy for us now to communicate with these doctors before we take any medicine when the need arises,\u201d she said at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n