Athletics doping: suspended Noah Jeruto, world champion three thousand steeplechase

Among the many doping cases that affect the world of athletics almost every day, this one is particularly noisy. Because it concerns a reigning individual world champion. The Athletics Integrity Unit (Aiu), the independent body that takes care of the matter on behalf of the international federation, has announced that Noah Jeruto, a 27-year-old Kenyan who on 20 July, flying the flag of Kazakhstan, won the 3,000m steeplechase at the World Championships in Eugene, was provisionally suspended on suspicion of breaking anti-doping rules. The anomalies concern his biological passport, the “document” that takes into account the relative blood values ​​​​of an athlete over a certain period of time.

jeruto exploits

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Already world champion in the 2011 steeplechase, gold medal at the 2016 African championships, winner of six Diamond League stages, including the Zurich 2021 final and for several seasons at the top of the world in the specialty, Jeruto has been representing Kazakhstan since 30 January 2022 and in this version, in Oregon — at the time represented by the Trentino manager Gianni Demadonna — she became the first absolute world champion of a Central Asian country. That day, with 8’53″02, she signed the best world performance since 2018, becoming the third woman all-time behind Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech (8’44″32 in Montecarlo 2018) and her compatriot representing Bahrain Ruth Jebet (8’52”78 in Paris 2016).

last months

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Jeruto – sister of 29-year-old Daisy Jepkemei, also in the 2012 junior world steeplechase gold, in turn linked to Kazakhstan since the beginning of last year – after Eugene’s triumph had disappeared from the scene, except to reappear on September 25 at the Kazakh championships of 10 km (second in 34’03”) and on February 10 at the Asian indoor championships, seventh in the 3000m in 9’29″27. Until the sad, probable epilogue of these hours.