Kenya's Lawrence Cherono [Source: Reuters]

Kenyan marathoner Lawrence Cherono receives a seven-year ban for anti-doping violations, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

The AIU imposed a ban of four years for the violation together with another four-year ban for the tampering or attempted tampering of the doping control, but reduced the overall ban by one year due to admission and acceptance.

Cherono, 35, had been provisionally suspended in July 2022 after testing positive for trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample, and the AIU determined that the athlete did not have an exemption for the banned substance.

The Kenyan told the AIU that he had been experiencing stomach problems and said a doctor had injected him with an unknown substance, but later gave a different explanation, blaming a mix-up with his wife’s medication.

The seven-year ban starts from July 16, 2022, the date of the original provisional suspension.