Ruti Aga banned for six years after failed drug test and false prescription

Ethiopian distance runner Ruti Aga has received a six-year ban after a failed drug test and an investigation into a false medical prescription. The Guardian reported the sanction on Thursday, citing the Athletics Integrity Unit, which imposed two years for the substance violation and a further four for tampering.

Aga, 32, tested positive for methylprednisolone after winning a half-marathon in China in March. According to the Guardian's account, she told investigators that a doctor in Ethiopia had given her the substance to treat knee pain. That explanation led investigators to examine the medical document she supplied in support of her account.

The AIU found that the clinic named on the prescription did not exist and that the person who signed it was a relative rather than a registered doctor, the Guardian reported. Aga subsequently did not respond to the charges, and the sanction was imposed without a hearing.

The AIU's written decision, dated October 20, identifies the competition as the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon and records the sample collection on March 15. It says Aga had no therapeutic use exemption for the substance. Importantly, the unit said it had no evidence that the presence and use violations were intentional; the separate tampering finding accounted for the longer portion of the suspension.

The decision also sets out the unanswered deadlines. Aga was charged on September 10 and initially asked to respond by September 17. A further deadline of September 30 passed without a reply. Under the applicable rules, the AIU therefore treated her as having waived a hearing and accepted the violations and proposed consequences, rather than recording an express admission from her.

Her ban runs from September 10, 2026, the date of her provisional suspension. The ruling disqualifies results from March 15 onward, with forfeiture of associated medals, titles and financial awards. Aga's earlier career includes victory at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and podium finishes in Berlin and New York, as noted in the Guardian's reporting.