World steeplechase champion Norah Jeruto suspended in doping case

Norah Jeruto, the Kenya-born runner who won world championship gold for Kazakhstan in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last year, has been provisionally suspended on suspicion of breaking anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Friday.

A notice of charge has been issued against Jeruto, 27, for the use of a prohibited substance or method, according to an entry on the website of the AIU, which oversees doping cases in track and field.

The AIU indicated the case involves her athlete's biological passport, a mechanism for tracking competitors' blood values over a long period to flag up signs of possible doping.

A provisional suspension means she cannot compete until the case is resolved. Jeruto won the African championship gold medal in the steeplechase in 2016 and the Diamond League title in 2021, both while representing Kenya.

She switched allegiance to Kazakhstan last year, having missed the Tokyo Olympics while she waited for the switch to take effect, and won the Central Asian nation's first-ever world track and field gold medal in championship-record time in Eugene, Oregon, last year.

Kazakhstan’s Jeruto will lose her World Championship title, which she won in a championship record and national record of 8min 53.02sec if the suspension stands.

f this happened, Werkuha Getachew of Ethiopia would be in line to be promoted to the gold medal, with her compatriot Mekides Abebe in line to move up to silver, and Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi, who finished fourth in the race, would be on course to take the bronze if Jeruto’s suspension stood.