The Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed the appeal filed by Kenyan runner Rhonex Kipruto, who has been serving a six-year suspension since May 2023 following abnormalities detected in his biological passport. Meanwhile, Spanish amateur athlete Patricia Álvarez was handed a two-year ban.
On 16 April, CAS partially accepted the appeal submitted by Kipruto — the former world record holder over 10,000m and 5,000m, a former world U20 champion, and widely regarded as one of Kenya’s brightest athletics prospects at the age of 26 — against the sanction imposed by World Athletics over irregularities deemed to involve aggravating circumstances.
The CAS decision was based on the principle of proportionality. Kipruto argued that the aggravating circumstances should warrant only an additional one-year period of ineligibility rather than the original two-year extension. However, the tribunal ultimately upheld the extended sanction earlier this week.
Health issues and blood manipulation
Kipruto initially denied the violation, arguing that the anomalies were the result of multiple factors, including natural and individual physiological characteristics, as well as various medical and health conditions. However, the panel rejected this defence, concluding that the cause was “more likely due to blood manipulation”.
The CAS has now formally closed the case, issuing an official statement that confirms the one-year reduction,which was also ratified by the Athletics Integrity Unit. “The suspension following an anti-doping rule violation has been reduced from six to five years,” read the AIU text.
Kipruto’s case dates back to the period between 9 July 2018 and 15 March 2022, during which 32 of the Kenyan athlete’s blood samples were collected and analysed as part of his biological passport programme. Three experts later reviewed the passport and identified abnormal haematological patterns linked to the athlete’s competition schedule.
Some of Kipruto’s anomalies were associated with competitions such as the 2020 Valencia 10K, where he set a world record of 26:24, beating Joshua Cheptegei’s previous record by 14 seconds, and the 2021 Kenyan Olympic Trials.
The record was subsequently annulled, along with all results achieved between 2 September 2018 and 11 May 2023, the date on which he was given a provisional suspension. Consequently, his bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, as well as his victory in the same event at the 2019 Stockholm Diamond League meeting, will no longer appear in his record.
Masking agents, an additional problem
Álvarez had already been provisionally suspended since 29 March 2025 after testing positive in a drugs test, and the sanction officially came into force on 14 July 2025, lasting until July 2027. All results achieved by the athlete since her provisional suspension have also been disqualified.
Earlier in her career, Álvarez became the Asturias indoor 1,500 metres champion in 2022 with a time of 4:49 — a respectable mark at amateur level, though far from elite standards.
Authorities have increased sanctions and adopted a tougher stance in cases involving masking agents, as these are considered particularly serious because they hinder the detection of other prohibited substances and complicate laboratory work.
