NAIROBI, Kenya, May 17 – The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has provisionally suspended world record holder for the 10km road race, Rhonex Kipruto of Kenya for alleged use of the banned substance ABP.
In a statement released on Wednesday, AIU said the 2018 World Under 20 10,000m champion had been issued with a notice of charge and temporarily suspended as investigations continue.
Rhonex stormed into global limelight in 2018 when he clocked 27:21.08 to win the men’s 10,000m at the World Under 20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
A year later, he timed 26:50.32 to clinch bronze in the men’s 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
A year later, he added to his burgeoning reputation when he clocked a world record of 26:24 in the men’s 10km race at Valencia Ibercaja.
The 24-year-old was also part of Team Kenya at the Tokyo Olympics where he finished ninth in the men’s 10,000m after clocking 27:52.78.
ABP refers to Athlete Biological Passport and is a tool used to monitor athletes’ biological variables to indirectly detect possible drug use by the athlete.
Rhonex’s suspension comes a day after another Kenyan, the 2014 World Junior 10,000m bronze medalist Nicholas Kosimbei,for testing positive for Trimetazidine.
