• AIU investigates after sample tested positive for EPO

• 33-year-old won Olympic marathon in 2021

In a fresh blow for Kenyan athletics, the women’s world marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir, has been provisionally suspended for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday.

The highly decorated 33-year-old, who won Olympic gold in the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, was suspended after an out-of-competition sample tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO.

• Clinic named by Ruti Aga did not exist, testers found

• Prescription signed by a family member, not a doctor

One of the world’s leading marathon runners, Ruti Aga, has been banned for six years after anti-doping investigators found she submitted a fake prescription to explain a failed drug test.

The Ethiopian athlete won the Tokyo marathon in 2019 and has reached the podium at the Berlin and New York marathons. She tested positive for the banned substance methylprednisolone after winning a half-marathon in China in March, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on Thursday.

As women’s sprinting enters a golden era in the run-up to LA 2028, controversy surrounding a top coach threatens to overshadow the sport’s biggest stars

When Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas came second at the recent track and field World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, she tried her best to be diplomatic: “I am an equal-opportunity doping hater,” she said. “If you are actively doping in sport, I do take issue with that. I’m not saying any names, no names are mentioned. But if you look at yourself and you think that’s what you’re doing, then so be it.”

Thomas then went out of her way to congratulate her compatriot Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who finished ahead of her that day, aware of the territory into which she was straying.

Ruth Chepngetich’s failed doping test, five months after she obliterated the record in 2024, left the sport deeply uneasy but powerless to act

When Ruth Chepngetich annihilated the women’s marathon world record in Chicago two years ago today, NBC’s commentators compared it to the moon landing. “Bring it on Neil Armstrong!” cried one. “She has done things in this sport that we have not seen,” said another. “Unbelievable!”

That was a word others reached for too after the Kenyan had crossed the line in 2hr 9min 56sec, a time that not only smashed the world record by 1min 57sec, but her personal best by a staggering five minutes. Afterwards she was asked by Robert Johnson of Let’s Run what her response was to those who believed she must be doping. “People must talk,” she replied. “I don’t know.”

Former Wimbledon champion’s suspension comes as Mykhailo Mudryk returns for Chelsea, exposing stark contrast in processes

In the months between the first announcement of Marketa Vondrousova’s doping test refusal and the release of the full reasoned decision after her four‑year ban, the 2023 Wimbledon champion did her best to grab hold of the narrative. Between her social media posts and later interviews, Vondrousova explained that she had serious concerns about her safety during the encounter, that the doping control officer at her door had acted improperly, and that her mental health problems had affected her judgment.

Then came the 58-page document, a summary of the court tribunal process, which was finally released a little over a week ago. Among the ample questionable decisions it showed Vondrousova to have made that evening, the text to her boyfriend shortly after the doping control officer arrived was particularly revealing, an indication that she felt disdain towards the tester rather than fear: “So like here is ringing some cunt from the doping,” she wrote.

While the event’s movers and shakers are rich and smart, they don’t come across as caring deeply about sport

I woke up in Las Vegas on Monday to an avalanche of messages from people across elite sport asking about the Enhanced Games. Some wanted to know what it was really like. Most, though, wanted to dance on its grave.

So much for the organisers’ promises that we would witness multiple world records. So much for their ridiculous claim to be the “Super Bowl of athletics, swimming and weightlifting!” Hubris meet nemesis.

• Gkolomeev’s time in men’s 50m freestyle disputed

• Organisers launch defence of timing apparatus

The Enhanced Games has dismissed suggestions by online sleuths that a world record set in Sunday’s event was mistakenly timed, calling them “completely unfounded internet drivel”.

Some accounts on Instagram had noted that the Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev appeared to touch the wall after his time of 20.81 seconds in the men’s 50m freestyle flashed up on screen.

• Gkolomeev’s 50m freestyle ‘record’ brings relief

• Glitzy night lacks excitement forecast by organisers

They promised multiple world records. To redefine what the human body is capable of with performance enhancing drugs. Even to change sport for ever. But by the end of the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas organisers were left with one abiding emotion. Relief.

Only in the final event of the night, after more than five hours of competition, could they lay claim to having gone quicker than an official world record as the Greek swimmer ­Kristian Gkolomeev swam 20.81sec in the men’s 50m freestyle.

• Swimmer says event is in ‘safest environment possible’

• Wada, however, insists it is ‘dangerous and irresponsible’

The former Team GB swimmer Ben Proud has denied that young people will be tempted to dope after watching him in the Enhanced Games.

The 31-year-old is on a mid six-figure salary after joining the controversial event and could earn another $1.25m on Sunday night if he swims faster than the 50m freestyle world record.

The Enhanced Games promise human advancement and world records but critics fear more worrying effects

On the eve of the most controversial sports event of the 21st century so far, one swimmer is explaining how it felt to take banned drugs for the first time. “I was anxious, to be honest,” says Andriy Govorov, the 50m butterfly world record-holder. “Because there’s no way back.”

The 34-year-old Ukrainian points to his backside. That is where the first needle carrying performance-enhancing drugs went into his body. Then to his stomach. That one hurt less. “I don’t like needles being stuck in me,” Govorov says. “When I was younger, I would pass out when I had blood tests.”

Having unearthed the world’s largest triceratops head, Christian Angermayer knows where to find treasure among the dirt. Step forward Sunday’s inaugural ‘Steroid Olympics’ promoting PEDs to the masses

Before we get to doping and psychedelics, arguably the most controversial man in sport is discussing how he came to own the largest triceratops skull ever discovered. And how he plans to install it in his London apartment.

So how much did you pay for it, I ask Christian Angermayer, the German billionaire who has made fortunes from biotech, bitcoin and psychedelics and now intends to do the same again using – and many believe abusing – sport. “Not a lot, because I find them.”

• Event ‘goes against everything Wada stands for’

• Inaugural competition is on Sunday in Las Vegas

The World Anti-Doping Agency says it is concerned that Enhanced Games’ athletes will tempt more young people into using performance-enhancing drugs.

The stark warning comes before the controversial $50m event in Las Vegas on Sunday, which allows competitors to take banned drugs – and offers huge prizes if they win races and break world records.

The Olympian Max McCusker on his decision to sign up for the Las Vegas games where performance-enhancing drugs are encouraged

The swimmer Max McCusker set an Irish record for the 100m butterfly in 2024 and competed at the Paris Olympics, but his career didn’t take off in the way he thought it would.

“Pretty much straight after the Paris Olympics, I retired due to mainly financial reasons,” Max tells Nosheen Iqbal. “So I just decided that, you know what, I’ve made my childhood career dream, and I had to go work in the corporate world for a bit.”

• Former captain, 32, won more than 100 caps for Georgia

• World Rugby found evidence of urine sample swaps

The biggest anti-doping investigation in World Rugby’s history has resulted in six of Georgia’s men’s team and a medical official being handed lengthy bans, with their former captain Merab Sharikadze suspended for 11 years. Working alongside the World Anti-Doping Agency, World Rugby uncovered evidence of urine swapping and advance warning of drug tests being given to players.

No firm proof was uncovered of attempts to mask the use of performance-enhancing substances but World Rugby did find evidence that urine sample substitutions had taken place to conceal non-performance-enhancing substances such as cannabis and tramadol.

• Wada looking into allegations relating to Rusada chief

• IOC recommends lifting of ban on Belarusians competing

Russia’s return to international sport has been delayed following allegations that its head of anti-doping was involved in covering up drug test results at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

While the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that athletes from Belarus should now be free to compete under their own flag and anthem, it admitted it still had “concern” over Russia.

While the doping-friendly event does not seem keen on journalistic interrogation, here’s what needs to be asked

The plan to fly to Las Vegas to cover what the Enhanced Games claims is the “next frontier of human performance” ended with a short email sent at 7.02pm on Friday. “After careful consideration, we are unable to approve your media credential request for this year’s event,” it said. “Due to the high volume of applications and limited media capacity, we could not accommodate all requests … thank you again for your interest and understanding.”

Admittedly, the rejection didn’t come entirely out of the blue. Unlike most sports organisations, the Enhanced Games had a pre-screening process which led to a nice PR man calling me a few days beforehand. His opening gambit? To point out the Guardian’s negativity towards the event (“Grotesque” – Barney Ronay; “Showcasing so much of the wrongness of the age” – Marina Hyde; “Competitors run the risk of their libido being ‘killed off’, leading experts have warned” – Sean Ingle).

• Heavyweight vows to clear his name with bout cancelled

• Fighter cites elbow treatment and hopes ‘sense prevails’

Lawrence Okolie has pledged to clear his name after a failed drugs test that has led to the cancellation of his heavyweight bout against Tony Yoka this weekend.

The British fighter, a former cruiserweight world champion who moved up to heavyweight, had been scheduled to face the Frenchman in Paris on Saturday. Okolie is the No 1-ranked contender by the WBC, whose belt is held by Oleksandr Usyk.

• Designated hitter was also banned last season

• Player set to miss postseason and WBC too

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Jurickson Profar faces a 162-game suspension after a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, ESPN reported on Tuesday.

If the punishment is confirmed, the 33-year-old will also forfeit his entire $15m salary for the 2026 season and will be ineligible for the postseason and for this month’s World Baseball Classic, where he was due to play for the Netherlands.

• Former British doubles No 1 has same legal firm as PTPA

• The 33-year-old doubles star has always denied doping

The breakaway players’ union that is suing the tours and grand slam tournaments has thrown its weight behind Tara Moore’s $20m (£14.7m) legal battle against the Women’s ­Tennis Association in a new front in the sport’s civil war.

The Guardian has learnt that Moore, a former British No 1 doubles player who this week brought a legal action for negligence against the WTA after being handed a four‑year ban for doping, is using lawyers from the Professional Tennis ­Players Association’s legal partner, King & Spalding.

In an extract from his book, Richard Fitzpatrick reveals in the early 1960s the grand Italian club was equipped for doping like ‘a small hospital’

The quantity of drugs floating around the campus at Inter in the early 1960s meant the club was equipped like “a small hospital”, to borrow an expression used about the doping culture at Juventus in the 1990s. Inter’s coach Helenio Herrera – or “HH”, as he was known in the world of football – used the players on the youth team as “guinea pigs” for his drug experiments, according to Ferruccio Mazzola, who was on the books at Inter’s academy at the time (and a younger brother of Sandro Mazzola, one of the team’s star players).

“I can describe the effects of those white tablets,” he wrote in a confessional memoir. He said he couldn’t sleep after taking HH’s pills. The hallucinations left him like a fish thrown up on the bank of a river. “I was shaking all over. I looked like an epileptic. I was scared. Also, the effect lasted for days and was followed by a sudden, tremendous tiredness.”