Blow to former London Marathon winner Wanjiru as CAS rejects doping appeal

Former London Marathon champion Daniel Wanjiru has lost his appeal against a four-year ban for anti-doping violations, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement on Monday.

Wanjiru was banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit in October 2020 after it found it was “highly likely” that the Kenyan had used prohibited substances, citing abnormalities in his athlete biological passport (ABP).

ABPs are used to monitor selected biological variables over time that indirectly reveal the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the substance or method itself.

CAS said in its statement that the Athlete’s ABP were highly abnormal and indicated a high probability of doping; adding its panel was comfortably satisfied that the abnormal ABP values were caused by a transfusion.

“The Athlete’s appeal is dismissed. Accordingly, his period of ineligibility of 4 years starting on 9 December 2019 and the disqualification of his results from 9 March 2019 stand as ordered by the Disciplinary Tribunal,” CAS said.

The 29-year-old’s ban, which was backdated to December 9 2019, will end on December 8, 2023.

In addition to his 2017 London win, Wanjiru secured gold at the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon and has finished eighth and 11th in the past two London marathons.