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LOS ANGELES. — Joseph Mutinda, a Kenyan runner who trains in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been banned for three years after admitting to doping, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Wednesday. In a release from its Colorado headquarters, USADA said that Mutinda admitted the use of various banned performance enhancing drugs after twice testing positive for 19-norandrosterone, a metabolite of an anabolic agent.

In the wake of the postive tests, 40-year-old Mutinda also admitted the use of blood-boosting hormone EPO and the diuretic furosemide, used as a masking agent.

As a result of an in-competition postive test at the 2014 Austin Marathon on February 16 of last year, Mutinda has been stripped of his title in the Texas race, which he won in 2hr 14min 16sec. — AFP.