Spanish record holder banned for three doping violations

Mohamed Katir - Spain's 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m record holder - has been provisionally suspended for three doping test doping violations.

On February 7, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said Katir was being investigated for allegedly violating the “place of residence” rule in doping tests. If the suspension is upheld, the Spanish runner will be banned from competing for one to two years. Whatever the punishment, he will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held in the French capital from August 1 to 11.

Top athletes like Katir are required to make themselves available for random doping tests for an hour a day and also provide information about their whereabouts on a daily basis. They face suspension if they breach this rule three times in 12 months.

Katir is Spain's top middle-distance runner. Photo: Soy Corredor — Katir is Spain's top middle-distance runner. Photo: *Soy Corredor*

Violations here could be missed doping checks - doping inspectors fail to test an athlete within their one hour window, or failure to submit documentation - the athlete's location information is incorrect and/or the athlete cannot be located for testing within the allotted one hour window. This is a doping check procedure that does not involve sample collection at official events.

Katir, one of Spain's medal hopes at the 2024 Olympics, has denied wrongdoing, insisting he has not had "the slightest problem" with previous urine and blood tests. The 25-year-old will appeal, saying the missed doping test was due to "an administrative issue" with ADAMS.

ADAMS stands for Anti-Doping Management System, described by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as "a web-based system that centralizes doping-related information such as athlete location, test history, laboratory results, Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) information".

Katir, born in 1998, is a Spanish middle and long distance runner. He won bronze in the 1,500m at the 2022 World Championships, silver in the 5,000m at the 2023 World Championships and silver in the 5,000m at the 2022 European Championships. He holds three Spanish records (1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m) and holds the European indoor 3,000m record.

Hong Duy

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