Commencing her journey in Kenya, where her talent for running promised a future beyond the horizon of her homeland. At 24, she made the heart-wrenching decision to leave her family behind, trading familiarity for opportunity as she joined Texas Christian University (TCU) in the fall of 2023. Facilitated by Townhall Athletics, an organization linking Kenyan runners with NCAA scholarships, her sacrifice fuelled a rapid rise to stardom—crowned by a Big 12 1000m title and a blistering 2:01.71 800m that essentially made her qualified for NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach. In fact, Tabitha Ngao was also an initial entrant in the competition. But her ascent unraveled with a shocking revelation.

She had been competing under a provisional suspension from the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) for whereabouts failures. Exposed just before the NCAA Indoor Championships commence in March 2025. However, Ngao’s has reportedly appealed her suspension, ADAK maintains its initial stance. “Tabitha’s mandatory provisional suspension is still in effect until the determination of the matter is reached by the Sports Disputes Tribunal,” ADAK wrote in an email to LetsRun.com, although they didn’t disclose the date of her suspension. There’s even more that makes the situation messier.

Even though the date of the suspension remains unknown, LetsRun.com came to know of it on February 28th, which implies the 24-year-old participated in the Big 12 and perhaps several other meets (8 in total in the 2024-25 indoor season), while being suspended! Nobody knows what turn this episode will take after this but the consequences for Ngao are far from encouraging. TCU scratched her name from the event even though she was qualified, passing her spot to the Smilla Kolbe of North Florida, who is the fastest, second to Ngao.

Now, with her results in question and her reputation on the line, Ngao faces not just the loss of a season, but the potential collapse of the career she crossed continents to build. Ngao surely was not the first Kenyan to face such charges. Was there anyone else?

Tabitha Ngao is not the only Kenyan to face the suspension

Earlier this year, the track world was rocked when another Kenyan athlete, Caroline Jeptanui, faced a similar fate to Tabitha Ngao’s doping controversy. Jeptanui, a freshman at Tulane University, carved a name for herself by finishing 12th at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships, in Madison, Wisconsin, clocking 19:47.6 earning All-American honors with a performance that seemed to herald a bright future.

Yet, beneath that triumph lay a secret: since September 28, 2024, she had been provisionally suspended by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) for two anti-doping violations, a fact uncovered by LetsRun.com in late February 2025. Her journey from Kenya to New Orleans, fueled by ambition and a spot secured through Scholarbook Premier, now teeters on the edge of disgrace, her accolades shadowed by questions of integrity.

The details of Jeptanui’s violations paint a damning picture. ADAK alleges she “adamantly evaded, refused, and failed” to submit to a drug test at the Kapsabet Half Marathon, even attempting to conceal her identity—an act of desperation that unraveled her season.  Her coaches claimed ignorance, and her name’s absence from ADAK’s public suspension list only muddied the waters. Now, as the NCAA and Tulane grapple with the fallout, Jeptanui’s story—once a tale of a freshman phenom—stands as a stark warning of oversight failures, her every step on the course is a defiance that could erase her triumphs as swiftly as she earned them.