FILE PHOTO: Athletics - World Athletics Championships - Doha 2019 - Men's 10000 Metres Final - Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar - October 6, 2019 Kenya's Rodgers Kwemoi in action REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
(Reuters) - The Athletics Integrity United (AIU) banned Kenyan distance runner Rodgers Kwemoi for six years, citing 18 instances of suspected blood doping following abnormalities in his athlete biological passport.
Most of the incidents, which spanned from July 2016 through September 2022, occurred ahead of major competitions, according to the AIU, which said Kwemoi "engaged in a deliberate, systematic, and sophisticated doping regime".
Reuters was not immediately able to locate Kwemoi and Athletics Kenya did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kwemoi, whose signature event is the 10,000 metres, took bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and finished fourth at the 2019 world championships.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Ed Osmond)
