Albert Korir
Albert Korir, the 2021 New York City Marathon winner who finished third in the 2025 NYC Marathon, has been suspended five years after testing positive three times last October for the same banned substance.
Advertisement
The suspension is backdated to Jan. 8, the day Korir was notified of the positive drug tests.
Korir’s results since last Oct. 3 — the date of his first positive test — are disqualified, which means he is stripped of the third-place finish in the 2025 NYC Marathon last Nov. 2.
Korir, a 32-year-old Kenyan, crossed the finish line one second ahead of Patrick Dever of Great Britain for third place.
On Jan. 12, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which handles anti-doping for track and field, announced that Korir was provisionally suspended for the use of methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (CERA).
Advertisement
CERA is “an EPO-based construct,” according to the AIU, and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list.
An AIU report published Monday stated that Korir tested positive for CERA from drug-test samples provided Oct. 3, Oct. 13 and Oct. 21.
On Jan. 12, Korir returned a form admitting to anti-doping rule violations and accepting the consequences, according to the AIU report.
Korir also placed second in the NYC Marathon in 2019 and 2023, plus ran the Boston Marathon from 2022-24 with a best finish of fourth in 2023. He won the 2025 Ottawa Marathon last May.