MADRID, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Spain's world 5,000m silver medalist Mohamed Katir will miss the Olympic Games after being given a two-year ban on Friday by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
Katir's suspension, which runs from February 7 until February 6, 2026, is for missing and being unable to be located for three anti-doping controls in a 12-month period.
The immediate effect of the ban is that the athlete, who won the 5,000m world silver medal at Budapest 2023 as well as a 1,500m bronze a year earlier, will not be able to compete in Paris and will also miss the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
The runner, who was born in Morocco but moved to Spain when he was five-year-old, was provisionally suspended by the Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA) when they received news of the investigation on February 7.
"Once the official notification regarding the opening of the file was received by the World Athletics Integrity Unit, the athlete's license was immediately suspended," explained the RFEA nine days ago, adding that Katir would be ineligible for competitions.
Katir also published a communique insisting on his innocence. "I consider that there is no violation arising from three location failures in the last 12 months. In some of the location failures reported by AIU, I was available at the place, date and times provided by me," he commented.
The athlete has said he will appeal the suspension, but the timeframe means that a clear medal favorites for Paris will now not be competing. ■