Two former Dublin marathon winners test positive for EPO

It's the second time in recent years that the winner of the Dublin Marathon has been engulfed in a doping controversy.

Morocco's Taoufik Allam wins the 2022 Dublin Marathon with a time of 2:11:30. Pic ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Two recent winners of the Dublin Marathon, Taoufik Allam of Morocco and Nataliya Lehonkova of Ukraine, have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO.

Allam, 35, won the men’s title in Dublin in 2022 while Lehonkova, 41, won the women’s title in 2015 and 2017. Both athletes were included in the latest pending cases by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which runs the sport’s anti-doping system. Allam’s case is listed for 16 August and Lehonkova’s for 21 August, with both stating: “Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (EPO)”.