Kenyan runner ran 57:32 for the half in 2020 and is a Commonwealth 10,000m bronze medallist.

Kibiwott Kandie, the former half-marathon world record-holder from Kenya, has been banned for seven years after admitting to refusing to submit to sample collection and tampering with the doping control process.

Kandie would have received an eight-year ban but was given a one-year reduction for an early admission and acceptance of the sanction, which means he is not eligible to return to the sport until 2032.

The 30-year-old was found to have breached the anti-doping rules relating to “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection by an Athlete” and “Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control by an Athlete or other Person”.

Kandie, a three-time Valencia Half Marathon winner in 2020, 2022 and 2023, set a world record of 57:32 minutes in 2020, although he now sits No.3 on the world all-time rankings behind Jacob Kiplimo and Yomif Kejelcha.

The Athletics Integrity Unit said in a statement: "In a testament to the AIU’s robust investigative capabilities, Kandie’s initial explanations for his refusal to provide a sample were exposed as being false after the AIU carried out a forensic analysis of his phone and financial records, while also coordinating with Kenyan authorities to confirm that documents submitted by the athlete from Kenya were fake.

"After being provisionally suspended on 14 March 2025 for his refusal to submit to a doping test, Kandie was further charged by the AIU with tampering on 6 May 2026."

“This case serves as a reminder that no athlete is above the rules in the sport of athletics,” said Head of the AIU, Brett Clothier. "The AIU conducts a sophisticated anti-doping program that rigorously tests the best athletes in the world, and if an athlete refuses a test, it places the integrity of the sport at risk. The AIU has a strong forensic capability and will thoroughly investigate such cases to ensure the truth comes out in the end."

Explaining what happened, the AIU continued: "On 1 March 2025, a Doping Control Officer (DCO) and a chaperone arrived at Kandie’s residential address in Kenya to conduct an Out-of-Competition test. Despite signing the electronic Doping Control Form to acknowledge he was required to provide samples, Kandie delayed the Sample collection process and was observed making numerous phone calls before ultimately refusing to cooperate with the DCO, informing him he “had an important payment to make” to National Construction Authority officers who were about to close down his construction site two hours away in Eldoret.

"Kandie was warned by the DCO that any refusal to be tested would result in the same consequences as testing positive - consequences which Kandie said he understood. He left the house to make further calls, and eventually left the property by car.

"Following the failed attempt to test, the AIU issued Kandie with a Notice of Allegation on 13 March 2025 and conducted an in-person interview regarding a breach of Rule 2.3 ADR.  The AIU also requested that the athlete provide his phone for forensic imaging.

"Analysis of Kandie’s phone revealed that, during the test attempt on 1 March 2025, the athlete made multiple calls to a number linked to a registered nurse in Eldoret. After collaborating with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to acquire the athlete’s financial records, the AIU discovered 11 transfers to the nurse in the 12 months prior to the test attempt. In the second of three interviews with the AIU, Kandie claimed the nurse was someone who sold him small household items and analysed his haemoglobin levels. Kandie said the repeated calls to her on 1 March 2025 were because he was due to meet her in Eldoret the same day for the sale of some household items.

"Following imposition of a Provisional Suspension on 14 March 2025, Kandie made an application to the AIU for his provisional suspension to be lifted. As part of that application, Kandie submitted a Certificate of Application for an Environmental Impact Assessment from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), which purported to show that he was urgently required in Eldoret on 1 March 2025 to assist with an inspection of a construction site by NEMA representatives.

"However, further investigations, with assistance from ADAK, revealed that the document submitted to the AIU by Kandie was fake. NEMA confirmed that the application reference number provided on the Certificate did not exist, that Kandie’s name was not in NEMA’s records, that there was no record of an inspection at the Eldoret site on 1 March 2025, and that the Certificate was 'not genuine and deemed to be invalid.'

"On 6 May 2026, Kandie was formally charged with violations of ADR 2.3 and ADR 2.5. Kandie admitted both violations and accepted the asserted period of Ineligibility. Kandie’s ban runs from 14 March 2025 (the date of provisional suspension) until 13 March 2032."