NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22, 2026 – Kenyan marathoner Deborah Sang has been slapped with a five-year ban after testing positive for two banned substances.
In a statement, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said the 26-year-old first tested positive for testosterone, late last year, before testing positive for prednisone and prednisolone, early this year.
“On 4 March 2026, following Further Analysis2 requested by the AIU, the Seibersdorf Laboratory reported, an Adverse Analytical Finding in the First Sample based on the presence of Testosterone and its Metabolite 5β-androstane-3α,17 diol (“5βAdiol”) consistent with exogenous origin,” AIU revealed.
It added: “On 31 January 2026, the Athlete provided a urine Sample In-Competition at the Riyadh Marathon held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was given code 8471401. On 25 February 2026, the WADA-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland (the
“Lausanne Laboratory”) reported an Adverse Analytical Finding in the Second Sample based on the presence of Prednisone and Prednisolone.”
The agency further revealed that Sang admitted guilt, following a meeting with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), opening herself to whatever repercussions.
“On 25 March 2026, the Athlete returned, via ADAK, a signed Admission of Anti-Doping Rule Violations and Acceptance of Consequences Form (dated 24 March 2026) confirming that she admitted the Anti-Doping Rule Violations and accepted the Consequences specified in the Notice of Allegation,” AIU said.
Having tested positive for two different prohibited substances, AIU noted that the road runner has been handed the five-year sentence in accordance with its anti-doping rule violations (ADR) statutes.
“This constitutes clear evidence of the Athlete’s use of “multiple Prohibited Substances”, which is expressly identified in the definition of Aggravating Circumstances and justifies an increase of the period of Ineligibility, unless the Athlete can establish that she did not knowingly commit the Anti-Doping Rule Violations,” it said.
Sang’s punishment comes a day after the 2018 World Under 20 10,000m champion Rhonex Kipruto lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) to overturn his suspension for ADR.
In its ruling, CAS agreed with AIU that Kipruto had committed an anti-doping rule violation but nonetheless reduced his six-year ban by one year.
