Doping: Another Kenyan gets five-year ban
Her results on and since 5 September 2021 (the date on which she tested positive) have been disqualified
Betty Wilson Lempus has been banned for five years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for two violations of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules (ADR), with her period of ineligibility beginning on 14 October 2022, the date on which she was provisionally suspended.
Her results on and since 5 September 2021 (the date on which she tested positive) have been disqualified.
In October 2022, the Kenyan was first charged with Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control (Rule 2.5 ADR), including obstructing or delaying the AIU’s investigation through the provision of false information or documentation.
Then, last month, Lempus was further charged with the presence of a Prohibited Substance or its metabolites or markers (Rule 2.1 ADR; Triamcinolone Acetonide).
Lempus’ sanction stems from thorough investigations by the AIU – with critical assistance from the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) – which uncovered that the athlete produced falsified medical documents to explain an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the presence of a metabolite of Triamcinolone Acetonide in her urine sample.
Lempus had provided the in-competition sample on 5 September 2021 after she won the Harmonie Mutuelle Semi de Paris. Initially, the French anti-doping agency (AFLD) cleared her of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) upon receipt of four medical documents supporting Lempus’ explanation that she received an injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide on 20 August 2021 while being treated at a Kenyan hospital.
However, in June 2022, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent refuted Lempus’ claim in writing, stating that though she attended the hospital Lempus never received “an intramuscular injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide at the hospital on this date”.
The official also cited other discrepancies, including false hospital documents (including address and phone number) and that the doctor, whom Lempus claimed attended to her, is not employed at the hospital.
Confronted by the AIU with this evidence in October 2022, Lempus admitted to Tampering.
On 16 November 2022, the AFLD revoked its initial decision and referred the results management of Lempus’ AAF to the AIU so it could be handled together with the Tampering allegation.
Her two charges – the presence of a Prohibited Substance, namely a metabolite of Triamcinolone Acetonide (Rule 2.1 ADR; two-year sanction); and Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control (Rule 2.5 ADR; four-year sanction) – were treated under the ADR as a single first ADRV but with the two sanctions to be served consecutively (totalling six years).
Ultimately, Lempus confessed to both charges and received a one-year reduction in her sanction for early admission.
“We are pleased to conclude this case, especially because this athlete almost got away with her attempt to dupe the authorities and to cheat other runners out of their rightful rewards,” said AIU Head Brett Clothier.
“This is the right and fair outcome, and it’s a signal to all that the AIU takes its mission extremely seriously and will pursue every angle in seeking to reach the truth.”
