Mexican Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, the Olympic champion in hiking, has lost an appeal against a four-year sentence, and faces new charges of providing false evidence, the International Athletics Federation's integrity unit said Tuesday.
The IAA Integrity Unit stated that the International Court of Sports Arbitration (Cass) rejected Gonzales' appeal against the punishment imposed after it was found involved in the use of the banned Trenbolone drug in 2018.
The Integrity Unit published the content of the ruling issued by Cass on July 2, which supported the initial suspension of imprisonment against it for a period of four years by the International Athletics Federation, given that Gonzales was unable to prove that she had used the prohibited substance unintentionally by eating contaminated food (meat) ).
Trenbolone is used in some countries, including Mexico, with livestock on farms, and the regulations stipulate that an athlete is exonerated who proves that he did not intentionally take this drug.
Gonzales, 31, won the silver in the 20 km walking race at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, as well as winning another medal at the World Athletics Championships in 2017.
Gonzales was suspended until 2022 but faces additional sanctions as the Integrity Unit accused her of "tampering with the doping control regulations."
Cass explained that Gonzales admitted before the referee's hearing and in the appeal note that she had not told the truth during the hearing before the IAAF Discipline Committee about tampering with her evidence and that the documents and evidence were concocted.
The content of Cass’s ruling made it clear that Gonzales provided false evidence regarding the meat she had eaten before it tested positive.