Marathon runner Philemon Kiplimo Kimaiyo has been suspended for two years after admitting to an anti-doping violation involving the banned substance chlortalidone, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has said.
The 27-year-old road racer will serve the suspension from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028, ruling him out of sanctioned athletics competitions for the duration.
The AIU has also disqualified all of Kimaiyo’s results from July 19, 2026, onwards. He will consequently lose any medals, titles, prize money, ranking points and appearance fees obtained during the affected period.
Kimaiyo returned a positive out-of-competition urine sample collected in Mwaita, Kenya, on July 19, according to the AIU. The sample contained chlortalidone, a diuretic and masking agent prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) both in and out of competition.
The AIU said Kimaiyo did not hold a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the substance and that no problems were identified with either the sample collection or laboratory analysis that could account for the adverse finding.
During the investigation, Kimaiyo said he had taken painkillers belonging to his wife about a week before the test to relieve pain after long training sessions. He said he could not recall the name or appearance of the tablets. He also disclosed that he had taken vitamins and dietary supplements whose identities he could not establish.
Although the AIU determined that Kimaiyo had violated anti-doping rules, it found no evidence that he had deliberately used the prohibited substance. As it was his first violation, he received the standard two-year sanction rather than the longer penalty applicable to intentional doping.
Kimaiyo had built a strong record on the road before the suspension. He won the B.A.A. Half Marathon in Boston in 2019, followed by victories at the Bahrain Night Half Marathon in 2021 and the Prague Half Marathon in 2022.
He was third at the 2022 B.A.A. 10K and finished eighth at the 2023 Berlin Marathon before taking third place at the 2024 Hamburg Marathon. His best marathon performance came in the 2025 Hamburg Marathon, where he clocked a personal best of 2:04:01 to finish second behind fellow Kenyan Amos Kipruto. He later placed eighth at the Chicago Marathon that year.
Kimaiyo will now be barred from competing in sanctioned athletics events until August 31, 2028. The AIU ruling remains subject to the sport’s established appeals process.
