The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has handed Kenyan long-distance runner Kibiwott Kandie a seven-year ban after he admitted to two anti-doping rule violations.
In a statement issued on Thursday, June 25, the AIU revealed that the 30-year-old athlete was found guilty of refusing to provide a sample for testing and tampering with the doping control process, offences regarded as among the most serious breaches of athletics regulations.
“Former half marathon world record-holder and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Kibiwoott Kandie, has been banned for seven years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after admitting to two Anti-Doping Rule Violations, a refusal to submit to sample collection and tampering with the doping control process,” the AIU stated.
Kandie was initially facing an eight-year suspension. However, the sanction was reduced by one year after he admitted the charges at an early stage and accepted the penalty.
His suspension took effect from March 14, 2025, the date on which he was provisionally suspended, and will remain in force until March 13, 2032.
According to the AIU, the case arose from an out-of-competition doping test conducted on March 1, 2025, when a Doping Control Officer (DCO) and a chaperone visited Kandie’s residence in Kenya to collect samples.
Investigators said Kandie signed an electronic Doping Control Form acknowledging his obligation to provide samples before delaying the process while making several phone calls. He later informed officials that he needed to travel to Eldoret to deal with matters at a construction site.
The AIU said the DCO warned Kandie that refusing to provide a sample carried the same consequences as returning a positive test result. Despite the warning, he left the premises.
“Despite signing the electronic Doping Control Form to acknowledge he was required to provide samples, Kandie delayed the Sample collection process and was observed making numerous phone calls before ultimately refusing to cooperate with the DCO, informing him he ‘had an important payment to make’ to National Construction Authority officers who were about to close down his construction site two hours away in Eldoret,” the AIU stated.
Following the incident, investigators examined Kandie’s phone and financial records. The probe reportedly revealed 11 money transfers made to a registered nurse in Eldoret during the year leading up to the failed test.
The AIU further disclosed that Kandie submitted a certificate purportedly issued by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in an attempt to challenge his provisional suspension, claiming he was urgently required in Eldoret on the day of the test. However, authorities later established that the document was fraudulent.
AIU Head Brett Clothier said the case highlighted the organisation’s ability to uncover attempts to obstruct investigations, regardless of an athlete’s stature within the sport.
Before the ban, Kandie was among the most accomplished half-marathon runners in history. He set a world record of 57:32 at the Valencia Half Marathon in 2020 and later won the same event in 2022 and 2023.
He remains the third-fastest half-marathon runner ever, behind Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, and has recorded two of the six fastest performances in the event’s history.
Kandie also claimed a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, establishing himself among the elite ranks of distance running before the suspension brought his career to a standstill.
The AIU formally charged him on May 6, 2026, and he subsequently admitted both violations, accepting the full period of ineligibility without contest.
