London Marathon CEO Hugh Brasher has vowed to "catch cheats" in pursuit of clean sport at the World Marathon Majors.
The running world was left stunned last week after reigning world champion Peres Jepchirchir was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after testing positive for EPO in an out-of-competition sample.
The 33-year-old Kenyan athlete, who won gold at the 2020 Olympics and 2024 London Marathon, returned a sample before winning the Sydney Marathon on 30 August 2026, having dropped out of this year’s London Marathon due to a stress fracture.
And Brasher, who was left “sad” at the news, has vowed to “stamp out cheats” in collaboration with the other marathon majors and the AIU.
“My initial reaction is incredible disappointment,” Brasher told the Independent. “It's disappointment and sadness. It's disappointing that somebody has potentially cheated, and I have to go potentially at the moment, the second test hasn't come.
“The impact is a lot wider, somebody who came second, third, fourth, the changes on an individual basis, on a person's life is profound. It's really important we have clean sport. We work incredibly closely with the AIU and its CEO Brett Clothier, World Marathon Majors and London Marathon have been at the forefront of helping to fund the AIU.
“We doubled the amount of money this year (more than $700,000 (£524,000) per year), to give the AIU across every one of the majors, including London.
“As we get more races, that will further increase. We're working with shoe companies, agents and athletes to fund the AIU further. What was brilliant about Sabastian [Sawe]'s win [and sub-two hour run at the London Marathon 2026], of all the testing he'd undergone beforehand, that's part of the reason Peres was caught, the funding enabled even more testing.
“We will catch cheats, unfortunately human nature means the rewards are so great that some people will decide cheating is the way to get those rewards.”
Brasher insists those caught cheating will be frozen out of the lucrative marathon major circuit, which saw the London Marathon alone fork out $230,000 (£172,000) in prize money combined for Sawe, who won the race, broke 2:02:00 and also breaking the previous course record (2:01:25) en route to a staggering 1:59:30, making him the first man to break the two-hour barrier in a sanctioned race.
“Our job is to catch cheats, ensure majors, one of the things we are allowed to do is ban those athletes from taking part in our events, because they're invitational, we can be strong, that's what we are,” Brasher added.
“We are allowed to ban them, you can't do it as the governing body, because it takes away somebody's livelihood. There are other races, but they cannot take part in the majors. We're very strict on that. We've worked with the AIU for years.
“We're determined to stamp out cheats. We are very strong on it, we will only be stronger and more determined to make sure cheats get caught.”
Jepchirchir is one of the sport’s greatest marathon runners, claiming gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and last year’s World Championships, also in the Japanese capital.
Her victories at the 2021 New York Marathon, 2022 Boston Marathon and 2024 London Marathon have helped her generate hundreds of thousands in prize money.
Brasher, however, admits it is “impossible” to recoup any marathon major prize money from previous years should athletes subsequently fail drugs tests in the months and years that follow.
Officially the ninth-fastest woman in marathon history (2:14:43), Jepchirchir failed to answer her door for two hours when the AIU called at her home in Kenya, agent Gianni Demadonna told LetsRun.com.
The substance, EPO, or erythropoietin, is a natural substance produced within the kidneys, prompts the creation of new red blood cells, which are used to carry oxygen to the muscles via the blood stream. It can be injected and remains detectable through urine or blood samples for only a short window of time.
Should Jepchirchir’s positive test and a subsequent ban be confirmed, it will be another blow for Kenyan athletics following the conviction and three-year ban of Ruth Chepngetich last year, though her remarkable sub-two hours and 10 minutes effort (2:09:56) at the 2024 Chicago Marathon remains valid due to the test taking place five months after that historic run.