U.S. Olympic hopeful Jonah Koech accepts 3-year ban for blood doping

National doping officials at USADA announced Monday that U.S. middle-distance runner and Olympic hopeful Jonah Koech has accepted a three-year ban for blood doping. The watchdog group said Koech, 29, will be ineligible to compete through July 17, 2029.

USADA’s decision ends Koech’s bid to compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and he must forfeit all medals, points and prizes he has won since his first abnormal blood sample on July 30, 2025.

That list includes his national title in the 1,500 meters at the 2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he posted a personal best time of 3:30.17 and qualified for the 2025 World Championships. That event, at which he finished 13th in the 1,500 meters, was his final competition before the ban.

Blood doping involves athletes receiving medically unnecessary blood transfusions and Erythropoietin Receptor Agonists, or ERAs, to increase their blood’s capacity to carry oxygen. By boosting their red blood cell counts, competitors can exhibit significantly improved endurance. ERAs are typically used to treat anemia, but can carry life-threatening side effects such as blood clots and strokes.

USADA tests blood samples over time to track an athlete’s hemoglobin, the protein that allows red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body. That testing process, which USADA calls its Athlete Biological Passport, searches for certain biomarkers associated with blood doping and hemoglobin shifts.

“This case is proof that the Athlete Biological Passport can both deter and detect doping,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement. “To ensure a fair playing field, every anti-doping organization needs this tool and the resources to use it effectively.”

A ban for blood doping would normally last four years, but admitting violations, as Koech did, can shorten an athlete’s ineligibility to three years.