The real reason why Kenyan World Record Holder was suspended from London Marathon,

Half marathon record holder Abraham Kiptum has been suspended in a doping case.

Kiptum was escorted out of a London hotel and provisionally suspended in news that has upset his fans.

The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Friday that he has been provisionally suspended for an Athlete Biological Passport (APB) violation.

The announcement came two days before the 29-year-old Kenyan was set to race the Virgin Money London Marathon.

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London Marathon organizers released a statement stating Kiptum “will not take part in Sunday’s Virgin Money London Marathon and has left London.”

Hugh Brasher, Event Director for the Virgin Money London Marathon, said: “We have a zero-tolerance policy on doping. London is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and we recently announced a groundbreaking extensive intelligence-driven testing programme. This shows the programme is working. Cheats will be caught and there is no place for them in marathon running.”

The suspension comes just six months after Kiptum, a relative unknown at the time, burst onto the global scene by running 58:18 in Valencia to break Zersenay Tadese‘s nine-year-old half marathon world record of 58:23. Kiptum, who is coached by Joshua Kemei, the husband of Olympic marathon silver medalist Eunice Kirwa, entered Valencia with personal bests of 59:09 in the half and 2:05:26 in the full marathon but was far from a big name in the sport.

In December, he ran 2:04:16 to finish second in the Abu Dhabi Marathon on what was later revealed to be a short course.

Pineda Sports, the Spanish agency led by Juan Pineda that represents Kiptum, put out a statement on Friday, expressing shock at the news:

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