Kenya's 2016 Olympic gold medallist Jemima Sumgong given a four-year doping ban

The 32-year-old army officer tested positive for the banned blood-boosting drug Erythropoietin (EPO) on February 28 and was provisionally suspended on April 3, ruling her out of that month's 2017 London Marathon.

That no-notice, out-of-competition test was carried out by the sport's world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and the case was prosecuted by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), with the tribunal taking place last month.

Sumgong, who has also finished second at the Boston, Chicago and New York marathons, claimed her positive test was a result of treatment she received at the Kenyatta National Hospital on February 22 for an ectopic pregnancy, a complication where the fertilised egg attaches outside of the womb.

According to the tribunal's ruling, which Press Association Sport has seen, she told the three-person panel she did not disclose this on her anti-doping form or to her coach, who is also her husband, because of the "taboo associated with her condition... which would have caused her to be shunned within her community".

The tribunal, however, disregarded this story as the hospital had no record of her February visit, concluding that the "treatment sheets" she produced were fake and her account of her treatment is contrary to hospital policy and the usual treatment for ectopic pregnancies.

In response to the hospital's statement, Sumgong's lawyer suggested the doctor she saw in February may have been an "impostor" as there had been a doctors' strike during that time.

ADAK's lawyer dismissed that suggestion, though, pointing out she could have visited a nearby military hospital and had already been given additional anti-doping training after an earlier incident in 2012.

In the ruling, the agency's position is clear: Sumgong was using EPO to prepare for the London Marathon and should receive the maximum sanction for a first-time offence.

And that was the tribunal's view, too, with the only real debate about when Sumgong's ban should start. As she has not competed since her provisional sanction, her four-year period of ineligibility starts on April 3.

The positive test has already cost her a significant amount of cash in appearance fees and prize money but it has not ruled out any of her results, which means she is still officially the winner of the London and Rio races in 2016.

This, however, will only cause further embarrassment for the sport and Kenya, as the east African country has an appalling recent record for doping and athletics is trying to rebuild its reputation after a series of scandals.

Sumgong's former training partner Rita Jeptoo tested positive for EPO in 2014 after winning the Boston and Chicago marathons and Kenya was only declared compliant with World Anti-Doping Agency rules shortly before the start of last year's Olympics.