The Kenyan secured the final podium spot ahead of Great Britain’s Patrick Dever at last year’s New York City Marathon.
Albert Korir banned for five years by Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive banned CERA material on three separate occasions.
The 32-year-old won the 2021 New York City Marathon and has secured a podium spot in the Big Apple on four other occasions, most recently finishing third in last year’s event.
However, just a month before Korir ran 2:08:57 in New York last November, finishing one second ahead of Britain’s Patrick Dever, he returned three separate out-of-competition samples in Kenya, all of which were positive for CERA.
CERA stands for Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator and is a third generation erythropoietin (EPO).
It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because it enhances athletic performance by increasing the production of red blood cells, which improves the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity and endurance.
Korir provided two out-of-competition urine samples at Kapkitoni on 3 October and 21 October respectively, and an out-of-competition blood sample at Kipkabus on 13 October.
All three samples were subsequently tested in Stockholm, and on January 8, Koriri was informed of the negative findings in all his samples. The Kenyan admitted the violations four days later.
Given that Korir could not establish that he did not knowingly commit the anti-doping violations, he was banned for five years, with one year suspended after he admitted them and accepted the sanction.
It means Dever, who was making his marathon debut in the Big Apple, will be promoted to third as Korir’s results from October 3 have been disqualified.
Dever’s run will go down as one of the best performances by a British male at the New York Marathon since Steve Jones won in 2:08:20 in 1988.
