Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Ruth Jebet has been banned for four years after testing positive for banned blood booster EPO, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced Wednesday.

Hit with a provisional ban in 2018 after a positive test on December 1 2017, the Kenyan-born Bahraini has the right to appeal the four-year suspension.

As it stands the 23-year-old will not be able to defend her title at the July 24-August 9 Olympics in Tokyo. After winning gold in Rio in 2016, she went on to set a new world record in the Paris Diamond League meet of 8min 52sec 78sec, a mark since smashed by Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech (8:44.32) in July 2018.