Uganda’s long-distance running prospect Belinda Chemutai has seen her career spiral further into turmoil after being slapped with a fresh three-year doping ban — her second in less than a year.
Once regarded as one of the country’s promising road runners, the 25-year-old now faces the bleak reality of being sidelined from competitive athletics until April 2031, effectively ending what was once a budding career.
Chemutai was already serving a suspension imposed in April 2025, following a positive test for exogenous testosterone during the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga in 2023. The new violation stems from an out-of-competition sample collected in Iten, Kenya, on February 28, 2025, which tested positive for testosterone decanoate, another banned anabolic steroid.
According to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), Chemutai did not contest the latest charge and later admitted wrongdoing — a decision that earned her a one-year reduction under World Athletics’ rules for early admission.
The new sanction, however, will run consecutively to her existing one, extending her suspension by another three years. In addition, all her results from February 2025 onwards have been annulled, with any medals, prize money, and points forfeited.
The AIU confirmed that the ruling will be published on its official website, noting that both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Uganda National Anti-Doping Organisation reserve the right to appeal the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Chemutai’s latest violation underscores the growing concern over doping among East African athletes training in Iten, Kenya’s famed high-altitude base, which has recently come under scrutiny for repeated doping cases.
For Uganda, the case is a sobering reminder that the battle for integrity in athletics remains as important as the pursuit of medals.
