Former World U20 Champion and Kipchoge Training Partner Rodgers Kwemoi Suspended for ABP Violation

Rodgers Kwemoi, who has represented Kenya at numerous global championships and most notably won the world U20 10,000m title in 2016, was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on Friday for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) violation.

Kwemoi, 25, owns personal bests of 13:18 for 5,000 meters, 26:55 for 10,000 meters, and 58:30 for the half marathon. He first made a name for himself by defeating Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo to win gold in the 10,000 at the 2016 World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Two years later, he made his senior Kenyan debut by earning bronze in the 10,000 at the Commonwealth Games. He finished 4th at the 2019 Worlds, 7th at the 2021 Olympics, and 15th at the 2022 Worlds, all in the 10,000 meters. He also won the Kenyan cross country title in 2021.

Kwemoi had only raced twice in 2023, running 28:06 and 28:16 in a pair of track 10,000m races in Japan in April. Kwemoi finished 29 seconds behind the winner in the first race and 70 seconds behind the winner in the second.

In recent years, Kwemoi has split his time between Japan, where he is part of the Kogyo Corporate team, and Kenya, where he trains at the Global Sports Communication camp in Kaptagat under coach Patrick Sang – the same camp as global superstars Eliud Kipchoge, Faith Kipyegon, and Geoffrey Kamworor.

Kwemoi is the second member of Sang’s training group to be suspended in the last year. In October, 2:05 marathoner Philemon Kacheran accepted a three-year ban after testing positive for testosterone.

Talk about Kwemoi’s suspension on our forum / messageboard. MB: 2nd guy from Eliud Kipchoge’s trianing camp is popped – Rodgers Kwemoi .

More from October: WTW: Eliud Kipchoge’s ties to doping or lack thereof & Valencia delivers as always