Links » the fall for his 12th Nationwide victory of the season.d

NAIROBI, Kenya - Rita Jeptoo, a three-time winner of the Boston Marathon and two-time Chicago Marathon champion, was handed a two-year doping ban Friday in a case that has cast a shadow over Kenyas famed distance runners.Jeptoo tested positive for the blood-booster EPO in an out-of-competition test last September, a few weeks before winning her second straight Chicago Marathon title. Both the A and B samples were positive.Athletics Kenya announced Friday that Jeptoo was suspended from all competition until Oct. 29, 2016. The sanction rules her out of this years world championships in Beijing and next years OIympics in Rio de Janeiro.The 33-year-old Jeptoo is the biggest name among dozens of Kenyan athletes who have failed drug tests in recent years. The World Anti-Doping Agency has urged Kenya to step up its drug-testing program and is working with the east African country to help set up a national anti-doping body.Jeptoo appeared at a disciplinary hearing in Nairobi earlier this month. Also testifying were her estranged partner, Noah Busiendich, Italian manager Federico Rosa and Italian coach Claudio Berardelli.For now, the case of Rita has come to a rest and what remains now for us is to move on, Athletics Kenya president Isaiah Kiplagat told The Associated Press. We shall see how we shall work with the new anti-doping agency of Kenya in partnership to deal with the vice.Jeptoo has already been denied her share of the $500,000 prize for winning the 2013/14 World Marathon Majors.Her positive test has made it very difficult for us, two-time womens marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat said. We keep on being asked about doping every time we go to compete out there and Im hoping that her punishment will make others stop engaging in this bad thing.I hope the (ban) will deter Kenyan athletes to stop taking short cuts, added Kiplagat, who stands to be upgraded to winner of the World Marathon Majors. It will be a lesson for others. Its unfortunate since nobody wants anyone to be banned. If you take something like EPO which is injected as a professional athlete, it is obvious you know what you are putting in your body.Kenya has been under close scrutiny since German broadcaster ARD alleged in 2012 that doping was common among the countrys distance runners.Kiplagat said this month that Athletics Kenya has banned or suspended 32 athletes for doping in the past five years.Our athletes should work hard to ensure we dont bring down what has taken 50 years to build, the 2008 Olympic mens 800-meter champion Wilfred Bungei told the AP on Friday.Anti-doping bodies from Norway and China are helping Kenya set up its own anti-doping agency.Boston Marathon organizers said they would evaluate Jeptoos ban before making any decision on stripping her results in the race.We are deeply disappointed in the findings involving Rita Jeptoo, and we are committed to upholding the integrity and credibility of the Boston Marathon, Tom Grilk, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, said in a statement.The World Marathon Majors said the winner of the 2013/14 prize would not be determined until the completion of due process in Jeptoos case and the outcome of any appeal. Under WMM rules, any athlete sanctioned for doping is ineligible to win the series title. Craig Stammen Jersey . The victory strengthened Liverpools position in the top four after Tottenham lost 1-0 at Norwich in the days late kickoff, cutting the north London club six points adrift of fourth place and the final Champions League slot for next season. Jose Pirela Jersey . Ronaldo netted his 14th goal of the season in Europes top competition to give Madrid a clear advantage ahead of next weeks quarterfinal return leg in Germany. But it came at a price as the Portugal forward, who came into the first-leg nursing a sore left knee, came off in the 80th minute. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-Rickey-Henderson-Kids-Jersey/ . It will mark the 22nd time the tournament has been held in this country and fourth in Atlanta Canada but will make its first appearance ever in played Nova Scotia. Johnny Manziel Jersey . On Monday night, many fans in this city placed the blame squarely on the captain for his role in the James Neal overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Manuel Margot Jersey .com) - A pair of programs shooting for their 10th win of the season get together at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, as the NC State Wolfpack tangle with 22nd-ranked West Virginia during the challenge round of the Gotham Classic. AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Busch didnt mind the rain that ended the race early. He would have been fine with continuing, though -- his car was that good. Busch became the first driver to win three straight NASCAR Nationwide races at Phoenix International Raceway, dominating his way through a rain-shortened race Saturday. "Weve been very dominant here in the past and led a lot of laps today," Busch said. "I felt like we could have won it if it was rain-shortened or whether we went the whole distance." Busch took an early lead and was still out front when the race was halted with 32 laps left in the 200-mile race around Phoenixs odd-shaped mile oval. After a delay of more than two hours, the race was called, giving Busch his series-record 64th Nationwide victory. Busch led 155 laps for his 10th overall victory -- seven in Nationwide -- at PIR and the fourth straight Nationwide win for Joe Gibbs Racing at the track. It also was the fourth straight win at PIR for Buschs crew chief Adam Stevens, who was at the helm when Joey Logano won for JGR in the 2012 fall race. Kevin Harvick finished second and pole sitter Brad Keselowski was third, followed by Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth. "Kyle had the best car today; we probably finished where we should have," Harvick said. "You never know and you always want to finish it out, but all in all it was a good start." BBusch swept the two Nationwide races at Phoenix in 2013, overcoming a pit-road speeding penalty to end a 24-race winless streak in the series in the spring and leading 169 laps in the fall for his 12th Nationwide victory of the season.dddddddddddd He had the dominant car at PIR on Saturday, moving into the lead on the sixth lap after starting third. Busch led 83 laps after that, retook the top spot on a restart after a pit stop midway through and stayed there another with about 60 laps left. "Another dominant day at Phoenix," Busch said. "Those days dont come around that often, so you try to enjoy them when you can." Rain put a slight damper on Buschs run to the checkers and certainly delayed it. PIR dodged the heavy downpours that spread across the Phoenix area for most of the day, but rain sent the fans scrambling and halted the race with 32 laps left. NASCAR sent out the blowers in an effort to get the track dry, but another round of storms moved across the area, soaking the track and ending the race. "I just had my hands full, for whatever reason, and felt kind of relieved to get it over with here," said Keselowski, who will start from the pole for Sundays Sprint Cup race without crew chief Paul Wolfe, who left the team for the birth of his first child. "Third was probably the best I have done, I was holding on pretty good there." ' ' '