Ugandan long-distance runner Herbert Kibet has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after laboratory analysis detected prohibited substances in a sample.
The AIU said the case involves triamcinolone acetonide and exogenous steroids identified through Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, handled under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.
A Notice of Allegation has been issued against Kibet, meaning the matter is still under investigation and no final guilt has been determined.
The 21-year-old represented Uganda at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and won the 10K Facsa Castellón in Spain in February 2026 in 26:39, a time that placed him fourth on the all-time world road 10-kilometre list at that point.
Kibet becomes the fifth Ugandan athlete currently serving a doping-related sanction, joining Mercyline Chelangat, Belinda Chemutai, Janat Chemusto and Peter Maru.
Former Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich has urged anti-doping campaigns to be extended into athletes' training camps.
Kiprotich said repeated cases could damage Uganda's reputation in long-distance running.
"I wonder why our athletes are testing positive; it is not good at all with someone with a God-given talent," he said.
Uganda Athletics national coach Grace Chesang warned the case could discourage young athletes if Kibet is confirmed guilty.
The AIU stressed that a provisional suspension is not a final sanction and does not remove an athlete's presumption of innocence.
What happens next in the Kibet case?
The file will move through the results-management process before a final decision is reached, with the AIU reserving the right to impose a ban length only after the disciplinary panel rules.
The argument doing the rounds in Kampala is whether Uganda's training camps are now the soft underbelly of its doping crisis, or whether the federation can still be trusted to police itself.
Ugandan athletes currently serving doping bans
- Herbert Kibet
- Mercyline Chelangat
- Belinda Chemutai
- Janat Chemusto
- Peter Maru
Source: The Independent Uganda
