Former half marathon record holder Kibiwott Kandie banned for 7 years
Former half marathon record holder Kibiwott Kandie banned for 7 years
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned former half marathon world record holder Kibiwott Kandie for seven years after he admitted to two anti-doping rule violations.
From a notice on June 25, AIU says 30-year-old Kenyan refused to submit to a doping test and was found to have tampered with the doping control process, offences that carry serious consequences in athletics.
“Former half marathon world record- holder and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Kibiwoott Kandie, has been banned for seven years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after admitting to two Anti- Doping Rule Violations, a refusal to submit to sample collection and tampering with the doping control process,” stated AIU.
Kandie initially faced an eight-year ban but received a one-year reduction after admitting guilt early and accepting the sanction without a prolonged legal fight.
His ineligibility period runs from March 14, 2025, the date of his provisional suspension, all the way to March 13, 2032, effectively ending his competitive career at its peak.
According to AIU, the violations stem from an out-of-competition test on March 1, 2025, when a Doping Control Officer and a chaperone arrived at Kandie’s home in Kenya to collect samples.
Kandie signed the electronic Doping Control Form, acknowledging his obligation to provide samples, then spent time making phone calls before telling the officer he needed to attend to a construction site in Eldoret.
The DCO warned Kandie that refusing a test carried the same consequences as testing positive, which Kandie acknowledged before leaving his property by car.
“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,” stated AIU.
After the failed test, AIU investigators conducted forensic analysis of Kandie’s phone and financial records, uncovering 11 money transfers to a registered nurse in Eldoret in the 12 months before the test.
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To challenge his provisional suspension, Kandie submitted a certificate from the National Environment Management Authority claiming he was urgently needed in Eldoret that day, but Kenyan authorities confirmed the document was fake.
The AIU’s Head, Brett Clothier, made it clear that the organisation’s investigative capability is built to expose exactly this kind of deception, regardless of an athlete’s profile or achievements.
Kandie is no ordinary athlete. He set the then world record of 57 minutes and 32 seconds at the Valencia Half Marathon in 2020, a race he also won in 2022 and 2023.
He remains the third fastest half marathon performer in history, behind only Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, and is responsible for two of the six fastest performances ever recorded over the distance.
Kandie also won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, cementing his place among the elite in long-distance running before this ban brought everything to a halt.
The AIU formally charged Kandie on May 6, 2026, with both violations, and he admitted guilt, accepting the full period of ineligibility without contest.
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