Running

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Former Tokyo Marathon Champion Ruti Aga Banned Six Years

The Athletics Integrity Unit added four years for tampering to a two-year ban for a positive test, saying she submitted a prescription from a clinic that does not exist.

By Sports Unc · Oct 22, 2026

Ethiopia's Ruti Aga, who won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon, has been banned for six years from March 15, 2026, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced October 22, for the presence and use of a prohibited substance and for tampering, Canadian Running reports.

The case began with a sample taken after Aga won the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon in China on March 15, which tested positive for methylprednisolone, a glucocorticoid banned in competition when taken by injection, by mouth or rectally. That carried a two-year ban.

The tampering charge added four years. The unit found that Aga gave false information in an interview on April 21 and, on May 4, produced a forged or manipulated document to support a prescription, from a clinic that does not exist and signed by a family member with no medical registration. She had said the positive test was related to treatment for a knee injury. Her results from the period covered by the decision are disqualified.

Aga, 32, has stood on the podium at World Marathon Majors six times, including second in Berlin in 2017 and 2018, and has a personal best of 2:18:09.

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notice LA 2028 Olympic marathon qualifyingWorldwideWindow Nov 1, 2026 to Apr 30, 2028; 70 per genderchecked Oct 21

Running

Olympic Marathon Fields Shrink to 70 for LA 2028

World Athletics has cut both fields by 10 places, and qualifying opens November 1. The qualifying times come in December.

By Sports Unc · Oct 21, 2026

The men's and women's marathons at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will each have 70 starters, down from 80, under the qualification system World Athletics has released, Canadian Running reports. The qualifying window opens November 1 and closes April 30, 2028.

World Athletics says it will set entry standards so that about 40 percent of the field qualifies by time and 60 percent through its world rankings. Meeting the standard does not guarantee a place: if more athletes hit it than there are spots, the fastest qualify. National Olympic Committees get more flexibility to reallocate quota places, including to athletes who did not meet the standard.

The qualifying times themselves will not be published until December. For comparison, the standards World Athletics set for the 2027 World Championships are 2:06:00 for men and 2:23:20 for women, and in 2026 alone 89 men ran under 2:06 and 82 women under 2:23, according to the magazine.

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