Peres Jepchirchir – Sydney Marathon 2026 Champion – Provisionally Suspended After Positive EPO Test

Peres Jepchirchir, the 2026 Sydney Marathon champion, has been provisionally suspended after a positive EPO test. The AIU confirmed the result from a pre-race sample, raising questions about her future in the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Reigning marathon world champion Peres Jepchirchir has been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after testing positive for EPO. The 33-year-old returned an adverse analytical finding for the performance-enhancing drug in an out-of-competition sample taken in Kenya before her victory at the Sydney Marathon this August. The AIU announced it had provisionally suspended Jepchirchir in a statement released on Friday, 23 October.

Jepchirchir has built one of the strongest résumés in modern marathon running. She is a four-time World Marathon Majors winner, the Olympic marathon champion from Tokyo 2020, and currently ranks fifth in the world. She claimed the world marathon title for the first time in Tokyo last September, adding to her two individual half marathon world titles. She is also a former world record holder in the half marathon and a former women’s-only world record holder in the marathon, set when she won in London in 2024.

Her appearance in Sydney marked a return to top-level competition after injury. Jepchirchir withdrew from this year’s London Marathon due to a stress fracture sustained after finishing second in the Valencia Marathon last December. In Sydney she again showed dominant form, winning in 2:18:31 and finishing more than three minutes ahead of compatriot Irine Cheptai in second place.

In addition to Sydney, her major victories include the New York City Marathon in 2021, the Boston Marathon in 2022 and the London Marathon in 2024. The positive EPO test could have significant consequences for her career. Under Abbott World Marathon Majors rules, any athlete banned for a doping offence of three months or more is banned for life from all eight Majors, which means the outcome of the AIU process may determine whether she competes again at the highest level.

The Sydney Marathon organisation has stressed in its official statement that Jepchirchir is entitled to full due process and that no further comment will be made until the case is concluded. At the same time, the event reaffirmed its commitment to clean sport, highlighting expanded out-of-competition testing in partnership with the AIU and other Abbott World Marathon Majors races. Further developments will depend on the findings and decisions issued by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

Sydney Marathon Statement: