Athlete Susan Kipsang-Jeptooo, the only Frenchwoman on the Tokyo Olympic marathon last summer, was suspended for 18 months on Monday for testing positive for heptaminol (stimulant), according to a document published on the site of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).
Kipsang-Jeptooo was tested positive on September 4, 2021, on the occasion of his title in the French 10 km Championships in Langueux (Côtes d’Armor), AFP learned from a source with knowledge of the file. The start of the athlete’s suspension was set for June 8, 2022, but all results are void as of September 4, 2021.
The 35-year-old athlete had also been indicted on October 14 by the Roanne (Loire) public prosecutor’s office, along with her husband and her former coach, for obtaining and unlawfully possessing substances classified as psychotropic and obtaining and possessing false administrative documents.
Born in Kenya in the town of Eldoret, Susan Jeptooo-Kipsang started her high school career competing in various road running and cross country races. In 2009, she moved to Lyon and began more intensive training. In 2015, she won her first bronze medal at the French cross court championships. In La Rochelle in 2017, she won the marathon in 2h 30′ 57′’.
Naturalized French in 2019, she has since run under the colors of the France team. During the Marrakech marathon in 2020, she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by beating her personal best (2h 28′ 48′). Last August, she was the only tricolor at the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games marathon, in which she took 38th place in 2h 36′29″. She has been playing for eight years with a club in Haute-Savoie, Athlé Saint-Julien 74 (ASJ74).
