Former marathon world record holder 🇰🇪 Brigid Kosgei and reigning Chicago Marathon champion 🇺🇬 Jacob Kiplimo have voluntarily entered an enhanced anti-doping program run by the Athletics Integrity Unit that follows the model Sabastian Sawe used before Berlin last year and London this spring. The initiative was athlete-led; Nike and their agency Rosa Associati are funding it. What does the enhanced testing program require? Each athlete undergoes at least 25 out-of-competition tests per year, with 100–120 analyses performed on those samples. For comparison, athletes in the marathon testing pool average about six out-of-competition tests per year, with 12–16 analyses. All 25 required tests are unannounced, WADA-compliant and independently administered by the AIU. Beyond those minimums, each athlete’s program is tailored using data and intelligence to, as the AIU puts it, deliver “the right test at the right time.” Both athletes have been in the program since immediately after their spring marathons. Sawe’s 25 tests before Berlin were compressed into two to three months — for 2026, the AIU recommended spreading the same volume across a full year as a more sustainable approach. Kosgei and Kiplimo are on that annual version. 🗣️ Kosgei: “They’ve been testing me three times per week, sometimes two times per week, in Kenya. It’s to prove to the juniors and young generation that I am clean.“ 🗣️ Kiplimo: “For me, I decided on extra tests because I want clean sport and people can trust and know that we are running clean.” Kosgei won the Chicago Marathon in 2019 in 2:14:04, a world record that stood until Tigst Assefa ran 2:11:53 in 2023. Kosgei’s fellow Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich lowered it further, also in Chicago, in 2024. Chepngetich was later banned after a positive test and is serving a doping ban. Kiplimo won in Chicago last year in 2:02:23 and is considered a favorite to repeat on Sunday after running 2:00:28 for third place in April’s London Marathon. Read more here: citiusmag.com/articles/brigi…