Delvine Relin Meringor

Last updated

Delvine Relin Meringor
EC 2024 - half marathon W (cropped) 02.jpg
Personal information
NationalityRomanian
Born (1992-08-01) 1 August 1992 (age 33)
Kapsangar, Kenya
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event Long distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Marathon: 2:24:32 (2021)
Half marathon: 1:07:48 (2021)

Delvine Relin Meringor (born 1 August 1992) is a Kenyan-born Romanian long distance runner.

Contents

Meringor is currently serving a three-year competition ban set to end in January 2028 for an anti-doping rule violation.

Career

Representing Kenya

Meringor finished fourth in Edinburgh, Scotland at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in the Junior women's race, winning a silver medal in the team event. [1] In 2018, she won the Safaricom-Madoka Half Marathon held in Taita Taveta County. [2]

Representing Romania

In May 2021, she was given Romanian citizenship in May 2021 along with Joan Chelimo Melly and Stella Rutto. All three trained under the Romanian coach Carol Şanta, who worked professionally in Kenya for over 11 years, and were registered members at the Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club since 2019. [3] [4] [5]

In April 2022, she won Romanian national titles in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres at the Tudor Vladimirescu Municipal Stadium, Târgu Jiu. [6] [7]

In 2022 she also won the women's Los Angeles Marathon.

Although Meringor placed in significant positions in a number of races from 2022 to 2024 including third in the 2023 Barcelona Marathon, [8] and seventh in the marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, [9] , all of her results were later disqualified due to an anti-doping rule violations issued in 2025 backdated to 2022.

Doping ban

In January 2025, Meringor admitted to the use of a prohibited method after irregularities were identified in her athlete biological passport. [10] The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya sanctioned her with a three-year period ineligibility from January 2025 to January 2028 along with the disqualification of all her results from 7 October 2022. [11]

References

  1. "Meringor gets another chance on global stage". Standard Media. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  2. "Meringor and Muindi win Madoka Half Marathon". Michezoafrika.com. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  3. "Kenyans Joan Chelimo, Stella Ruto and Delvine Meringor received Romanian citizenship. Two of them are qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon". click.ro. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. Nazare, Daniel. "The story of athlete Joan Chelimo Melly, the athlete who shattered the marathon record of the great champion Constantina Diță by more than three minutes! How she ended up in Romania at CSA Steaua". prosport.ro. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  5. "Three athletes from Kenya at Steaua, under the command of professor Carol Santa". Covasnamedia (in Romanian). 11 November 2019.
  6. "Romanian 10,000m and 5000m Championships". World Athletics. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  7. "Romanian 10,000m and 5000m Championships". World Athletics. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  8. "Jocurile Olimpice 2024: România reprezentată de două atlete de origine kenyană în proba de maraton". puterea.ro. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  9. "Delvine Meringor, the athlete born in Kenya who represents Romania, finished in 7th place in the marathon at the Olympic Games! Joan Melly dropped out". gsp.ro. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  10. Tenea, Mihai; Klodnischi, Simona (22 June 2025). "Romanian long-distance runner Delvine Relin Meringor gets three-year doping suspension". Agerpres.
  11. "LATEST SANCTIONS FOR DOPING AND NON-DOPING VIOLATIONS" (PDF). Athletics Integrity Unit. 1 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.