Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Ruth Jebet has been banned for four years after testing positive for banned blood booster EPO, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced Wednesday.
Hit with a provisional ban in 2018 after a positive test on December 1, 2017, the Kenyan-born Bahraini has the right to appeal the four-year suspension. As it stands the 23-year-old will not be able to defend her title at the July 24-August 9 Olympics in Tokyo.
After winning gold in Rio in 2016, she went on to set a new world record in the Paris Diamond League meet of 8:52:78, a mark since smashed by Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech (8:44.32) in July 2018.