Paris (AFP)
Athlete Ophélie Claude-Boxberger, who risked eight years of suspension after testing positive for EPO in September 2019, was finally suspended for two years by the sanctions commission of the French Anti-Doping Agency, she announced. Wednesday at AFP.
The 32-year-old middle distance specialist proclaimed her innocence and pleaded for her release during her hearing on March 16 before the commission, accusing her ex-father-in-law and assistant, Alain Flaccus, of having injected him with EPO without his knowledge.
A thesis that seems to have been sensitive to the sanctions commission of the French Agency for the Fight against Doping (AFLD), an independent body of the AFLD which, for its part, demanded an eight-year suspension in this case.
The five-time champion of France, a specialist in particular in the 3,000 m steeplechase, tested positive for EPO on September 18, 2019, is therefore suspended until November 5, 2021, she assured, confirming information from the Republican East.
If she can no longer apply to participate in the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 11), the road seems to be free for a possible participation in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
"Given the sanitary conditions, it's not a big disappointment to miss the Olympics. My goal remains to aim for the 2024 Paris Olympics on a marathon," she told AFP.
"I was risking eight years so I could be happy, but no because I always asked for the release, I always explained that I was innocent", she added.
AFLD, which could not be reached by AFP, has the possibility of appealing this decision.
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