Peres Jepchirchir provisionally suspended after positive EPO test

Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning women's world marathon champion and a former Olympic gold medallist, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for EPO, according to BBC Sport. The report concerns an out-of-competition sample provided by the Kenyan runner before her victory at the Sydney Marathon on 30 August 2026.

BBC Sport reported that Jepchirchir gave the sample while in Kenya, ahead of the Australian race. The 33-year-old subsequently won in Sydney in two hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds. The reported action is a provisional suspension; the BBC account does not announce a final sanction or say that any of her race results have been annulled.

Jepchirchir finished more than three minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Irene Chepet Cheptai in Sydney. The event had joined the World Marathon Majors in 2025, becoming the series' seventh race. Her victory there added another major marathon success to a career that already included wins in New York, Boston and London, as well as global championship titles.

Her Olympic marathon gold came at the Tokyo 2020 Games. She returned to the Japanese capital for the World Championships in September 2025 and won the women's marathon again. Those two championship victories form part of the record outlined in the BBC report, alongside her achievements over the half-marathon distance, where she also set world records.

On the major city-marathon circuit, Jepchirchir won in New York in 2021, Boston in 2022 and London in 2024 before her Sydney success. BBC Sport also noted that she broke the women's half-marathon world record in 2017 and on three occasions in 2020. The suspension therefore affects an athlete with championship and road-racing success across several seasons and distances.

EPO, short for erythropoietin, stimulates the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the muscles. BBC Sport explained that injected EPO increases the number of those cells in the bloodstream and is detectable for only a limited period. The report identifies EPO as the substance detected in Jepchirchir's sample, while describing her suspension as provisional.