Kenyan long-distance runner Kibiwott Kandie has been suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for violation of anti-doping rules.

According to the AIU statement dated Friday, March 14, 2025, Kandie has been charged for evading, refusing, or failing to submit to sample collection.

Kandie is a former half marathon record holder in Valencia in 2020.

 He also won a silver medal in the men’s race at the 2020 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, on October 17, 2020. 

The suspension of the Kenyan adds to a recent trend of kenyan athletes getting in the bad books of the sports integrity unit.

Early in the year, Brimin Misoi and Geoffrey Yegon were suspended by the AIU for similar offences.

Misoi is a double marathon winner with victories in the 2022 Frankfurt Marathon and the 2024 success in Sydney, Australia. He was suspended on February 24.

2025 suspension

Meanwhile, Yegon was handed a two-year ban on February 11, 2025, for the presence/use of a prohibited substance.

In the entirety of 2024, Kenya recorded a total of six cases of suspension from the AIU with Jackline Wambui being the high-profiled in them.
The athlete was provisionally suspended pending her appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

AIU, established by the World Athletics, is mandated to protect the integrity of the sport of Athletics, including fulfilling World Athletics’ obligations.

As a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, the  World Athletics has delegated implementation of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules to the AIU, including but not limited to the following activities in relation to International-Level Athletes: Testing, Investigations, Results Management, Hearings, Sanctions and Appeals.

Provisional suspension

A provisional suspension is when an athlete or any other p[person is suspended temporarily from participating in any competition or activity in athletics before a final decision at a hearing is conducted.

In doping cases, a Provisional Suspension is mandatory under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules following an adverse analytical finding for any non-specified substance on the prohibited list.