The rise and fall of Kenya's distance star Kibiwott Kandie

Kibiwott Kandie did not only carry the hopes of the country on his shoulders, he inspired the next generation of athletes with his stunning performances in road racing and 10,000m.

Kandie stormed to a half-marathon world record at the 2020 Valencia 21km race, and the military man earned a standing ovation and salutes.

But the 29-year-old star now serves a piercing seven-year ban for violating anti-doping rules including refusal to submit samples and tampering.

An Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) verdict on Thursday, once again, takes away another talent from the sporting arena, thanks to anti-doping rule violations (ADRs) – a menace that continues to taint Kenya’s image in distance racing world.

There were fears just after Kandie’s suspension on March 14, last year, that the potential long-distance record-breaker was facing an imminent ban following allegations of refusing to submit to sample collection, an offence that costs an athlete four years out of competition.

Before his suspension and the subsequent seven-year ban, Kandie’s CV, especially in the half-marathon, was among the most impressive ones.

He claimed back-to-back victories in the 2022 and 2023 Valencia Half Marathons.

Kandie also made a name in the 10,000m, bagging bronze in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and clinching the national title in 2023.

Whenever debate on who would take over from marathon king Eliud Kipchoge, Kandie’s name featured among other elites.

The heartbreaking ban did not however come as a surprise.

Before Thursday, a renowned coach who had celebrated Kandie’s breakthrough in 2020 was agonised and had already quit coaching over doping disgrace.

“I have coached for many years after my retirement from active running. But I’m disappointed because before you finish celebrating your protégés, you get the shocking news that they are cheating. It is discouraging and I have stopped training to focus on other duties in life,” the coach who didn’t want his name revealed had told Standard Sports in April.

But how did Kandie’s fall from grace happen?

A Doping Control Officer (DCO) arrived at his residential home in Eldama Ravine, a location which, AIU says, is provided in his whereabouts information, on March 1, 2025.

The DCO, who was accompanied by a chaperon, was about to collect blood and urine samples for testing from the banned athlete, but he refused, after making several phone calls, claiming that he was required to travel to a construction site, where he was building a house, and which is a two-hour drive from Eldama Ravine.

The AIU decision indicates that Kandie left the DCO and the chaperone in his house and quickly rushed outside to make long phone calls when the officers were about to take the blood sample.

“At around 12:28pm, the athlete re-entered the house and sat down again. He informed the DCO that he needed to leave for Eldoret, some two hours away, to make a payment to National Construction Authority (NCA) officers who were about to shut down work at his construction site (in Eldoret),” the AIU said in its decision.

Kandie was also found to have informed the lead DCO for Kenya on the phone that he was not going to provide the samples at the time, insisting he was hurrying to Eldoret to save his investment from demolition.

According to the AIU findings, Kandie drove out of his compound, leaving behind the DCO and the chaperon.

The athlete, later, through a lawyer, told AIU that he was required to be present at the construction site in Eldoret, where National Environment Management Authority (Nema) was conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment. A document presented by Kandie was also found to be invalid.

It was later found on March 26, 2026, that the claims that he was required on the Eldoret construction site were untruthful and amounted to tampering.

“Nema holds no record of any site inspection at the location stated on the certificate of application (the Eldoret construction site). There is no requirement for an applicant to be physically present at a site during Nema inspection. The certificate of application is not genuine and deemed to be invalid,” AIU found.

Further investigations by the AIU in collaboration with Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya found that Kandie was not talking on the phone with NCA officials but with a nurse based in Eldoret.

Forensic analysis of a mobile phone provided by Kandie shows that he sent a total of Sh18,200 to the nurse from July 2024 to March 1, 2025 for unknown reasons.

In his defence, Kandie said he spoke frequently with the nurse because he (Kandie) often shared results of his blood tests with her for advice on whether his haemoglobin levels were normal.

“He checked with the nurse what she thought of his haemoglobin values and was told by her that they were all good and he had never taken anything to enhance his performance,” the findings read in part.

Eventually, AIU said, Kandie admitted ADR violation and his ban was reduced from eight to seven years, commencing on March 14.