CAS Reduces Sanction for Kenyan Runner Rhonex Kipruto
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially upheld an appeal by Kenyan long-distance runner Rhonex Kipruto, reducing his period of ineligibility from six years to five years following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).
In May 2024, the World Athletics (WA) Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) Disciplinary Tribunal imposed a six-year ban after finding irregularities in Kipruto’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) consistent with doping.
Kipruto denied the charges, arguing that the abnormalities were due to natural physiological traits and medical conditions. The Tribunal rejected his defense, concluding the evidence pointed to blood manipulation.
Kipruto appealed to CAS in June 2024, seeking to overturn the sanction. A hybrid hearing was held in Lausanne in November 2025, with the athlete attending remotely.
After reviewing scientific evidence and expert testimony, the CAS Panel determined that Kipruto’s blood profile was the result of blood manipulation and confirmed the ADRV.
The Panel, however, reassessed the sanction. The original six-year ban comprised four years for intentional doping plus two years for aggravating circumstances, including multiple instances of blood doping and a sophisticated doping regime.
CAS ruled that proportionality required reducing the aggravating circumstances from two years to one, resulting in a five-year suspension.
Kipruto’s competitive results remain disqualified from 2 September 2018 to 11 May 2023, the date of his provisional suspension.
