Ethiopian marathon runner Ruti Aga has been banned for six years after testing positive for methylprednisolone and submitting false information during the resulting investigation, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit.
The 32-year-old, who won the Tokyo Marathon in 2019, provided the sample after a race in China in March 2026. Testing detected methylprednisolone, an anti-inflammatory medicine included on the prohibited list. The drug can be used in medical treatment, including for severe asthma, but its regulated status requires athletes to comply with anti-doping rules governing its use.
Aga told investigators that treatment for a knee injury explained the result. The AIU said the material she provided to support that account did not withstand scrutiny. Investigators found that a purported prescription came from a clinic that did not exist and had been issued by a person presented as a doctor who was actually a family member without medical registration.
The disciplinary outcome combined separate sanctions. Aga received a two-year period of ineligibility for the anti-doping rule violation and an additional four years for tampering with evidence. The AIU said she had also given false information during an interview, making the case more serious than a positive test considered on its own.
Aga has been one of Ethiopia’s prominent road runners. Beyond her Tokyo victory, she placed among the top three in four World Marathon Majors, a series that includes many of the sport’s most competitive city races. The lengthy ban now removes her from elite competition for a substantial part of the remaining career of an athlete in her early thirties.
The case also illustrates the investigative work that can follow laboratory analysis. Anti-doping bodies do not necessarily decide cases solely from the substance found in a sample. They assess medical explanations, treatment records and other documents offered by athletes, and can impose additional sanctions when evidence is fabricated or an inquiry is obstructed.
AIU chief executive Brett Clothier said marathon running had made meaningful progress against doping over the previous six or seven years but still required sustained investigative resources. He argued that examining explanations was essential to exposing attempts to evade responsibility and protecting athletes who compete without prohibited substances.
The AIU’s account indicates that the additional four-year penalty turned on the effort to mislead investigators, not simply the original test. That distinction sends a warning that submitting invented medical documentation can carry consequences considerably greater than the underlying violation.
