'Provisional Suspension Against Bahraini Long-Distance Runner Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa'

https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/disciplinary-process/provisional-suspensions-in-force

The AIU announced today that Kenyan-born Bahraini Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa has been provisionally suspended for a positive test for EPO. Prior to disappearing at the end of 2017 after winning the Macao International Marathon Kirwa was a familiar face in Japan, winning all seven of her races there between 2015 and 2017, taking 2nd in another in 2013, and medaling at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, 2015 Beijing World Championships and 2016 Rio Olympics.

It was notable that despite her string of international medals Kirwa never ran the big European and American races after hitting that level, her only appearance in the World Marathon Majors a DNF at the 2014 Boston Marathon and her only times running the biggest European marathons coming in 2012 and 2013 in Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt, all in the 2:21-2:23 range and making the top three twice.

Details of Kirwa's case are still forthcoming, but below is a list of top finishers in the races mentioned above. Japanese women finished 2nd in all four of Kirwa's biggest marathon wins including her three Nagoya Women's Marathon victories, mirroring similar previous busts of frequent Japanese race winners like Russian Albina Mayorova and the Ukraine's Tetiana Shmyrko.

2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:21:17

2. Yuka Ando (Japan) - 2:21:36

3. Mao Kiyota (Japan) - 2:23:47

4. Sayaka Kuwahara (Japan) - 2:26:09

2017 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 1:08:07

2. Amy Cragg (U.S.A.) - 1:08:27

3. Riko Matsuzaki (Japan) - 1:11:04

4. Miho Shimizu (Japan) - 1:11:07

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Women's Marathon

1. Jemima Sumgong (Kenya) - 2:24:04 (also undergoing processing for doping suspension)

2. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:24:13

3. Mare Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 2:24:30

4. Tirfe Beyene (Ethiopia) - 2:24:47

5. Volha Mazuronak (Belarus) - 2:24:48

6. Shalane Flanagan (U.S.A.) - 2:25:26

2016 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 1:08:55

2. Bethlehem Moges (Ethiopia) - 1:11:09

3. Rebecca Chesire (Kenya) - 1:11:09

4. Visiline Jepkesho (Kenya) - 1:11:33

2016 Nagoya Women's Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:22:40

2. Tomomi Tanaka (Japan) - 2:23:19

3. Rei Ohara (Japan) - 2:23:20

4. Mao Kiyota (Japan) - 2:24:32

2016 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 1:08:06

2. Diane Nukuri (Burundi) - 1:09:23

3. Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 1:09:29

4. Yuka Ando (Japan) - 1:10:10

2015 Beijing World Championships Women's Marathon

1. Mare Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 2:27:35

2. Helah Kiprop (Kenya) - 2:27:36

3. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:27:39

4. Jemima Sumgong (Kenya) - 2:27:42 (also undergoing processing for doping suspension)

5. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:28:18

2015 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 1:09:37

2. Atsede Baysa (Ethiopia) - 1:10:37

3. Brianne Nelson (U.S.A.) - 1:12:43

4. Pasalia Kipkoech (Kenya) - 1:12:51

2015 Nagoya Women's Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:22:08

2. Sairi Maeda (Japan) - 2:22:48

3. Mai Ito (Japan) - 2:24:42

4. Risa Takenaka (Japan) - 2:28:09

*Russian Mariya Konovalova finished 2nd in 2:22:27 but had this and other results annulled as the result of a drug suspension, elevating Maeda to 2nd.

2014 Incheon Asian Games Women's Marathon

1. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 2:25:37

2. Ryoko Kizaki (Japan) - 2:25:50

3. Lishan Dula (Bahrain) - 2:33:13

4. Eri Hayakawa (Japan) - 2:33:14

2013 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

1. Mestawat Tufa (Ethiopia) - 1:10:03

2. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bahrain) - 1:10:09

3. Lara Tamsett (Australia) - 1:13:33

4. Yuko Mizuguchi (Japan) - 1:14:44

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

japan running news

Search This Blog