Jonah Koech was handed a three-year ban for a blood doping violation, and the US title stripped from him. Koech has agreed to a three-year ban for blood doping and will be stripped of his 2025 U.S. 1500m crown, USADA has confirmed.
The anti-doping organisation’s finding came after blood samples collected before and after Koech won the U.S. 1500m title on August 2 (both in 2025). According to USADA, they found “highly atypical blood values” consistent with blood doping in his “biological passport”, which monitors an athlete’s blood make-up over a period of time.
All this points towards a prohibited blood manipulation technique rather than necessarily any individual prohibited substance being tested positive.
A panel of experts confirmed this “after reviewing the full passport data and providing an independent expert opinion.” As Koech accepted the violation and the ban in under 20 days from being informed of the finding, it reduced his sentence by one year (standard ban for this is four).
Koech was banned from the start of 17 July 2026 up until 17 July 2029, and his performances since 30 July 2025 have been discarded, along with a 13th-place finish in the 1500 metres final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Second-placed to Koech in the U.S.
Champs and 2016 Olympian was Ethan Strand; he could now be elevated to U.S. National 1500m champion.
