MONACO (AP) — The 2021 New York Marathon winner, Albert Korir of Kenya, was banned for five years after he admitted doping, track and field investigators said Monday.
Korir tested positive for the blood-boosting substance CERA, a modern version of EPO, in three different samples taken in Kenya last October while he was training to run in New York.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said in its verdict that all his results since October will be disqualified, including his third-place finish in New York last November .
The three positive tests “constitutes clear evidence of the athlete’s use of ‘a prohibited substance on multiple occasions’ which is expressly identified in the definition of aggravating circumstances,” the verdict stated.
The 32-year-old Korir’s ban expires in January 2031. The ban was shortened by one year because he admitted his doping without requesting a hearing, the verdict said.
Korir will be allowed to keep his 2021 New York title. He also finished runner-up in 2019 and 2023, and third in 2024.
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FILE - Albert Korir of Kenya crosses the finish line in second place at the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia. (AP) — Australian police said they shot dead a man following a three-hour standoff on Monday, seven months after he was suspected of killing two police officers and seriously wounding a third in a remote forest region.
There had been no confirmed sightings of Dezi Freeman, 56, since he allegedly opened fire on police officers who came to serve a warrant at his home near Porepunkah in Victoria state northeast of Melbourne on Aug. 26 last year, Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush said on Monday.
A man believed to be Freeman was fatally shot by police on Monday at a remote location near Thologolong, around two hours' drive north of Porepunkah, a police statement said.
“We believe it is Freeman, but we have to go through a formal identification process,” Bush told reporters in Melbourne. Identification could take up to 48 hours through processes including fingerprinting.
Heavily armed Special Operations Group tactical police were involved in a standoff for three hours before the suspect was shot. He had been inside a shelter like a shipping container and did take up a police offer to surrender, Bush said.
“This was all about bringing this to a conclusion as safely as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person there … as peacefully as possible,” Bush said.
Bush said he “strongly believed” the suspect was armed. Bush could not say whether the suspect fired at police.
Australian news outlets widely reported that Freeman espoused co-called sovereign citizen beliefs and had grievances with police. He had wilderness survival skills that police feared could sustain him living in the open indefinitely.
The shooting of three police officers led to a massive search across Victoria’s heavily forested alpine region. In recent months, police said they suspected Freedman had killed himself.
“We have to follow every avenue of inquiry and there was a lot to suggest that Freedman had taken his own life,” Bush said.
Bush would not say whether a tipoff led police to the suspect on Monday. Police had offered a 1 million Australian dollar ($678,000) reward for information.
Police said they continue to investigate whether others had helped the suspect avoid arrest.
FILE - Police man a road block in Porepunkah, in the state of Victoria, Australia, on Aug. 28, 2025. (Simon Dallinger/AAP Image via AP, File)
A rural property at Tholongolong near Walwa, in the state of Victoria, Australia, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Jodie Mcmaster/AAP Image via AP)
