Spanish runner Mohamed Katir, a twice world championship medallist, has been suspended for two years in connection with whereabout failures and will miss this year's Paris Olympics and the 2025 worlds in Tokyo.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday that Katir has admitted to missing tests in March, April and October 2023. He had initially protested his innocence.
The AIU said he is banned retroactively from February 7, the day of his provisional suspension, until February 6, 2026.
Athletes must give information about their whereabouts to be available for random doping tests, and three such failures within a 12-month period lead to a ban of up to two years.
Katir, 25, won 5,000 metres silver medals at the worlds and European championships in 2022, and 1,500m bronze last year at the worlds.
"Without accurate whereabouts information, anti-doping organisations cannot properly execute no-notice, out-of-competition testing that is the key to catching anyone who is doping and trying to
gain an unfair advantage,” AIU head Brett Clothier said.
“In the lead-up to Paris 2024, to ensure a level playing field, the AIU will execute a comprehensive and intelligence-led out-of-competition testing programme on elite athletes worldwide.
"Whereabouts compliance will be an essential element of this. Elite athletes are well aware of the importance of whereabouts requirements and receive ample education about it. There is no excuse for committing three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period.”
