Former Tokyo Marathon winner Ruti Aga banned for six years for doping and a forged prescription, the AIU says


Ruti Aga, wearing bib number 51, runs in the 2019 Tokyo Marathon with spectators behind her

[file photo] Ruti Aga runs on her way to winning the Tokyo Marathon, March 3, 2019. Photo: nakashi via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ethiopian marathon runner Ruti Aga, the 2019 Tokyo Marathon winner, has been banned for six years for a banned steroid and a forged medical prescription, the Athletics Integrity Unit says.

The AIU, the independent body that handles doping cases for World Athletics, announced the decision on Thursday. The 32-year-old tested positive for methylprednisolone, a steroid that doctors use to reduce swelling and that is banned in competition, after she won the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon in China on March 15, 2026. For the drug itself she received a two-year ban. She received four more years for tampering with the case, because she lied to investigators and backed her story with a document that turned out to be false.

According to the AIU, Aga told investigators that the positive test came from treatment for a knee injury. To prove it she handed in a prescription from a clinic that did not exist, written by a "doctor" who turned out to be a member of her own family with no medical registration. "When questioned, the family member claimed to have used an old prescription pad from a former workplace," the AIU said in a statement quoted by BBC Sport. "But that clinic confirmed the individual had never worked there and the prescription was not theirs." The AIU said she gave false information when investigators interviewed her on April 21, and that the forged document was handed in on May 4. Under the anti-doping rules, lying to investigators and faking evidence is a separate offense from the positive test itself, which is why the tampering charge alone cost her twice as many years as the drug did.

Aga did not answer the charges, so the ban was imposed without a hearing, the Guardian reported. She had been provisionally suspended since September 10, 2026, and the ban runs from that date, BBC Sport reported. Her results from March 15, 2026, the day of the positive test, are disqualified, according to a summary of the AIU's written decision. A short AIU notice on X gave the two dates the other way round.

The news spread quickly among Ethiopian sports fans and media. Sputnik Ethiopia posted the story in Amharic on Friday morning with a video, saying the doping had been "confirmed" after the test in China. Brook, an X user who posts running news, summed up the case for followers on Thursday: the runner "tested positive for Methylprednisolone after winning the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon, then submitted a forged prescription to investigators." Kenya's KBC Channel 1 also carried the ban.

For many years Aga was one of the most dependable marathon runners in the world. Her biggest win came in Tokyo in March 2019, when she ran 2 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds to lead an Ethiopian podium. She finished second three times at World Marathon Majors, BBC Sport reported, and the AIU said she had also won the last two editions of the Xiamen Marathon in China and was ranked 11th in the world before her suspension.

The case is a blow to Ethiopian distance running, which has spent years trying to clean up its image. Ethiopia is one of eight "Category A" federations that the Athletics Integrity Unit rates at the highest doping risk, which means its national team athletes must pass a minimum number of out-of-competition tests before major championships. Aga can still take her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This time the evidence was gathered with help from Ethiopia's own anti-doping body, the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority, which supported the investigation, the AIU said.

Sources

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