Ruti Aga has been issued a six-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit following a provisional suspension that found evidence of tampering where she submitted a fake prescription to explain why she failed a drug test.
Aga, 32, tested positive for methylprednisolone, a banned substance, in March after winning the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon in China in 1:08:04. She said she was given the drug by a doctor to treat knee pain, but investigators found that the clinic did not exist and a family member who signed the prescription was not a physician.
“We have made significant progress against doping in marathon running over the past six to seven years, but much remains to be done,” Brett Clothier, AIU chief said. “Investigations are vital to uncovering doping and exposing false explanations. Protecting clean competition takes resources, but this case sends a clear message: attempts to cheat will be exposed.”
The AIU noted that Aga broke Anti-Doping Rules 2.1 and 2.2 for using the substance and having the presence of the substance in competition but also violated Anti-Doping Rule 2.5 for “tampering or attempted tampering with any part of doping control” by submitting false documentation.
Methylprednisolone is classified as a Class S9 substance and described as a glucocorticoid variety of steroid hormone and synthetic medications that reduces inflammation but appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List and is banned in competition.
When Aga’s family member was questioned by investigators, that person said they issued the drug using an old prescription pad from a clinic they used to work at. But the clinic said the person never worked there, and they had no knowledge of the prescription, which the AIU and the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority later determined was a forgery.
Aga won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and has had several major marathon silver and bronze podium finishes since 2016.
Her ban also includes tampering charges — four years for drug use plus two years for the fake prescription. Her provisional suspension began on September 10 and her period of ineligibility will start from that date and end in September 2032.
