Athletics news - Kenya's Wilson Kipsang provisionally suspended for anti-doping violations

Kenyan Wilson Kipsang, former marathon world record holder and bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics, has been provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures and tampering with samples, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on its Twitter account on Friday.

Under anti-doping regulations, athletes have to inform testing authorities of their whereabouts for a one hour window of every day and three failures -- not being present at the said time -- within 12 months leads to an automatic ban. No further details of his offences were immediately available from the AIU.

Kipsang, 37, is twice a winner of the London Marathon and has a personal best of two hours, 3 minutes, 13 seconds -- making him the equal sixth-fastest man in history. His time of 2:03.23 at the 2013 Berlin Marathon stood as the world record for a year.

Britain's Prince Harry poses with London Marathon winners Mary Keitany (L) and Wilson Kipsang, both of Kenya, outside Buckingham Palace

Image credit: Reuters

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He has also won the 2014 New York Marathon and 2017 Tokyo Marathon.

Kenya was among the countries placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA's) compliance watch list in 2016 and Kipsang is the latest Kenyan athlete to be charged with a rule violation.

About 60 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations in the past five years.

They include 2008 Olympic 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop, 2016 Olympic marathon winner Jemimah Sumgong and former Boston and Chicago Marathon winner Rita Jeptoo.

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