Skip to main content

'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

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
That list of results is very sad. Feel sorry for all those women who lost to her.

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...