AMERICAN 1500M CHAMPION BANNED FOR BLOOD DOPING

Jonah Koech has been banned from competition for three years after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) found he committed an anti-doping rule violation for blood doping. USADA identified the violation through "highly atypical blood values" in Koech's athlete biological passport, which tracks an athlete's blood values over time to detect doping without a positive drug test. Koech accepted the ban for "the use of a prohibited substance and/or method". His title from the 2025 US Outdoor Championships men's 1500m has been stripped, and he has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and after 30 July 2025, the date of his first abnormal blood sample.

Koech won the national title at the championships held in Eugene from 31 July to 3 August 2025, running 3:30.17 to edge Ethan Strand by 0.08 seconds. Strand finished second in 3:30.25, a personal best, ahead of 2024 Olympic gold medallist Cole Hocker, who ran 3:30.37. Hobbs Kessler finished fourth in 3:31.12. The three fastest finishers had secured spots for the United States at the World Championships. Born in Kenya, Koech competed collegiately in the United States from 2015 to 2019 before becoming eligible to represent the country in June 2021. Blood samples from Koech were collected before and after the championships.

Strand is now set to inherit the national title. Following the announcement on 10 August, Kessler shared his reaction on social media, writing "Really disappointing… Bummer for everyone involved" and congratulating Strand on his new status as U.S. champion. Kessler added a personal message to Strand: "Sorry the moment was taken from you dawg." Koech has not raced since finishing 13th in the 1500m final at the World Championships in Tokyo in September 2025.