Ukrainian jumper Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk is suspended in a testosterone doping case
Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, of Ukraine, competes in the women’s triple jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
MONACO (AP) — One of Ukraine’s best-known athletes, Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, a two-time silver medalist at the world track and field championships, has been provisionally suspended in a doping case involving testosterone.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which manages doping cases in track and field, issued an update on Thursday listing Bekh-Romanchuk as suspended since Wednesday over the suspected presence or use of testosterone.
The announcement came shortly before Bekh-Romanchuk was due to compete at Friday’s Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar.
It would have been Bekh-Romanchuk’s return to competition after a nine-month break since she placed 11th in the women’s triple jump at the Paris Olympics in August. Organizers removed Bekh-Romanchuk’s name from the entry list after being notified by the AIU, the Diamond League said.
Bekh-Romanchuk won the long jump silver medal at the 2019 world championships and the triple jump silver medal in 2023. She was also European triple jump champion in 2022.
Also on Thursday, the AIU said Nehemiah Kipyegon was banned for three years after admitting a doping charge involving the banned substance trimetazidine.
Kipyegon won the Munich Marathon in October in his first-ever race over the distance and becomes the latest Kenyan road runner to face doping bans.
The ruling in the case said Kipyegon tested positive at a competition in Nigeria in February and he argued he used the substance “without knowing.”
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