Shocked AK mulls sanctions for gender cheat Kiprotich

Athletics Kenya (AK) says they are ‘shocked’ following a stunning revelation that uncovered a gender cheat who competed internationally as Shieys Chepkosgei.

In a shocking admission, Hillary Kiprotich confessed in court to having masqueraded as Chepkosgei after he was arraigned for impersonating a female intern at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

The AK executive member Barnabas Korir has said the national federation will consider fresh sanctions for the athlete who is already serving a doping ban that runs until next year.

“We were shocked to learn that somebody can do something like that. We will wait for the government to finish up on the matter then as a federation we will also decide on the action to be taken. An act like that contravenes the code of conduct of federation and the rules of fair play,” Korir revealed.

Korir who is also the chair of Youth committee in AK stated that it is beyond federation’s reach to determine the gender of the athlete.

“We can’t for sure ascertain if somebody is a male or female because if they put in make up how can you tell? But how about those people close to them,  relatives and friends they must be knowing what is going on,” lamented Korir.

Court documents, the 26-year-old suspect, who is an athlete from Nandi County holds a Kenyan passport and national identity card bearing the female name ‘Shieys Chepkosgei’.

The suspect was presented in court on Tuesday where the prosecution sought for more time to conclude investigations.

Investigating officer Victor Omondi told the court the suspect was reported by nurses after the female name (Shieys Chepkosgei) he was using could not be found in the register of interns at the facility.

Appearing in court, the suspect admitted to being a male and that he likes to associate with the female gender.

A search in the International Association of Athletics (IAAF) proves that indeed there is an account profile of an athlete by the name Shieys Chepkosgei who has participated in various marathons in the globe.

The athlete was eventually banned for four years in 2016 after being found to have doped with the ban due to end on December 2020.