Former Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Rita Jeptoo has had her two-year doping ban doubled to four years.
The extension comes after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal made by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in 2015.
The Kenyan was initially banned in 2014 by Athletics Kenya (AK) after a sample taken after a sample taken after her Chicago Marathon win was found to contain the banned performance-enhancing substance rEPO.
However the CAS have doubled AK’s original ban due what they described as “aggravating circumstances”, which include Jeptoo’s continued contact with a doctor said to have injected her with rEPO.
Due to this, her 2014 wins at the Chicago and Boston Marathon have been disqualified, including prize and appearance money earned fro, both races.
The 35-year-old has also been fined 15,000 Swiss francs (£12,396) to cover legal fees and expenses for the IAAF
Due to this, Jeptoo remains one of 40 Kenyan athletes to have been caught doping since 2011, with her case seen as the most high-profile of them all.
Her initial two-year ban was due to expire at the end of October, however this extension means she will not compete again until 30 October 2018.
