Kenya's Diana Kipyokei, 2021 Boston Marathon champion, suspended after failing drug test

The winner of the 2021 Boston Marathon, Diana Kipyokei, was suspended on Friday after testing positive for doping at the race and allegedly obstructing an investigation.

Track and field's Athletics Integrity Unit said Kipyokei's sample after winning in Boston in October last year had traces of triamcinolone acetonide. It is a glucocorticoid prohibited at races when an athlete does not have permission to use it as a medication.

The case has deepened suspicions the substance is a doping product of choice for athletes from Kenya.

The AIU said 10 Kenyans have tested positive for triamcinolone since the start of 2021, with only two cases in track and field from the entire rest of the world in the same period.

Kipyokei is also under investigation for obstructing or delaying the AIU's investigation through the provision of false information or documentation.

The AIU did not specify more details of the suspected tampering by the 28-year-old Kipyokei, who faces being banned for at least four years.

Kipyokei won the women's race in Boston in a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 45 seconds.

In the event that the alleged violation for the presence of a prohibited substance is proven, Kipyokei would be disqualified as the winner of the 2021 Boston Marathon, the AIU said.

Her career best time is 2:22:06 in Istanbul in 2020.