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23-year-old Kenyan marathon runner Samuel Kalalei has been handed a four-year doping ban after testing positive for banned blood-boosting hormone EPO.
Kalalei tested positive at the Rotterdam Marathon back in April and was provisionally suspended from the sport two months later.
He won the Athens Marathon in 2017.
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Kalalei is now the third Kenyan athlete to be handed a doping ban. Four more other cases are still pending.
They include Asbel Kiprop, the former Olympic 1500m gold medalist and Jemima Sumgong, the Rio 2016 Olympic Women’s champion.
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EPO (Erythroprotein) is a glycoprotein secreted by the kidney which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow.