Shadrack Biwott is suspended four years from track and field because he tested positive for a banned substance. The American marathon runner was caught doping.
His ban stems from a drug test in January of 2024, which presents an interesting timeline.
He ran at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials just a few days after his initial test got flagged but he was unable to finish the 26.2-mile track and field competition. Did he try to compete clean and fail?
Who is Shadrack Biwott?
Shadrack Biwott moved to the United States from his home country of Kenya in 2002 to attend high school in New Mexico. The 5-foot-9, 125-pound distance runner won the state championship in 2003.
From there, Biwott went on to run at the University of Oregon. He was a multiple time All-American and won multiple conference championships on both the individual and team levels.
His impressive collegiate career made him one of the most promising professionals in the early 2010s. Biwott became a United States citizen in 2012.
Since then, he has placed third at the Boston Marathon, fifth at the New York City Marathon and third at the Twin Cities Marathon. That does not include his podium finishes at the USA Half Marathon Championships and the USA Marathon Championships.
He got caught doping.
Biwott was tested outside of competition on Jan. 25, 2024. His A sample tested positive for erythropoietin.
Erythropoietin is a banned hormone that stimulates red blood cell production and increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. That can obvious provide a huge advantage for runners by delivering more oxygen to muscles during prolonged exercise and delaying fatigue.
Even though Shadrack Biwott requested a test of his B sample, it yielded the same result.
His defense centered on the idea that the physical test that was used was invalid. However, the arbitrator wrote that four scientists who reviewed the test result all reached the same decision so the United States Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year sanction for his violation earlier this week.
Here is where this gets interesting. (To me, at least.)
Biwott first popped for erythropoietin just days before the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando.
I would assume that his positive test required him to stop taking whatever he was taking and run clean. I could be wrong but I would not think he would take the banned substance right after he got caught.
If that is true, Biwott ran the Olympic Marathon Trials clean— without the additional boost of erythropoietin. He dropped out of the race all together after just 15 miles.
It just goes to show just how big of an advantage that doping can be. Shadrack Biwott was one of the most fit men in the entire world but he could not even cross the finish line without doping.