USADA announced today that track and field athlete Lilian Mariita, a Kenyan athlete, previously residing in Hebron, Kentucky, has received an eight-year sanction for her second anti-doping rule violation. Mariita, 26, tested positive for an anabolic agent as the result of an in-competition sample collected on July 4, 2015 at the Great Buffalo Chase 5K run in Frankfort, Ky. Anabolic Agents are prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing and the International Association of Athletics Federations (“IAAF”) Anti‐Doping Rules, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Mariita’s eight-year sanction began on August 14, 2015, the day she received notice of a provisional suspension. As a result of the sanction, Mariita is disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to July 4, 2015, the date of her sample collection, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes. Mariita received an eight-year sanction due to this being her second anti-doping rule violation. She was previously sanctioned by Athletics Kenya for an adverse analytical finding for EPO.

• This media release originally appeared on the US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) internet site on 28 December 2015. To access the original, please click here.