On Thursday, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) introduced a four-year ban for Ethiopian marathoner Tsehay Gemechu after her Athlete Organic Passport (ABP) knowledge revealed three uncommon spikes in hemoglobin and reticulocyte (purple blood cell) ranges.
The AIU has banned Tsehay Gemechu (Ethiopia) for 4 years from 30 November 2023 for Use of a Prohibited Substance/Methodology (ABP case). DQ outcomes from 22 March 2020 till 30 November 2023
Particulars right here: https://t.co/Y7ofrG9LZo pic.twitter.com/saIuKpvnwg— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) October 31, 2024
Gemechu, certainly one of Ethiopia’s prime feminine marathoners, represented her nation on the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Her private finest of two:16:56 on the 2023 Tokyo Marathon ranks her tenth amongst Ethiopian girls (all time).
Past her marathon achievements, Gemechu holds a 5,000m private better of 14:29 and completed fourth within the occasion on the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
The 25-year-old was initially set to compete within the 2023 Valencia Marathon however withdrew after her knowledge raised suspicions. The ABP tracks organic markers over time to detect doping not directly, enabling the AIU to watch particular person profiles and flag irregular adjustments that will point out performance-enhancing drug use.
The AIU investigation revealed irregular fluctuations in Gemechu’s hemoglobin and reticulocyte ranges on three separate events between March 22, 2020, and March 26, 2023, simply weeks after the Tokyo Marathon. Information anomalies can usually point out if an athlete is doping.
In consequence, all of Gemechu’s performances between March 22, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2023, will likely be annulled, and he or she should forfeit any titles, awards, medals, factors, prize cash and look charges earned throughout that interval. Her four-year ban extends by Nov. 30, 2027.