Italian steeplechase runner Ahmed Abdelwahed given four-year ban and stripped of Euro silver for doping
Ahmed Abdelwahed of Italy poses on the podium during the Athletics – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Medal Ceremony at the European Championships Munich 2022 at Olympiapark on Aug. 19, 2022 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam – AIPS Media
MONACO, December 15, 2023 – Italian steeplechase runner Ahmed Abdelwahed is the most high-profile name among those the Athletics Integrity Unit slapped with bans on December 14 for doping. He will be stripped of his European Championships silver medal and has been suspended from athletics for four years – from September 7, 2022 – after testing positive for the prohibited substance meldonium.
The other athletes whose sanctions were announced on Thursday include Morocco’s Samir Jouaher, 2023 Riyadh Marathon champion, banned for six years; Bolivia’s Vidal Basco for four years and Colombia’s John Tello Zuniga for three years.
DOPING CONTROL It was Abdelwahed’s in-competition urine sample which he provided on August 19, 2022, the day he finished second in the final of the men’s 3000m steeplechase event at the Euros in Munich, that returned an “adverse analytical finding” on September 6, 2022. The following day, the athlete was notified and provisionally suspended with immediate effect.
“BIOTRANSFORMATION PROCESS” Abdelwahed insisted that he never used meldonium, even after his B sample analysis had confirmed the finding in the A sample. In his explanation provided on January 16, 2023 he stated that the positive case was the result of a biotransformation process involving a supplement. The AIU rejected the athlete’s biotransformation theory as “unspecific and highly unlikely,” noting that since meldonium has been banned for over seven years, “it stands to reason that if such biotransformation had occurred, it would have already been identified.”
Meldonium is an endurance-boosting heart medication which has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2016. “It is a non-specified substance prohibited at all times”.
DISQUALIFIED RESULTS All Abdelwahed’s results obtained at last year’s European Championships and since August 19, 2022 have been disqualified. His compatriot Osama Zoghlami, who claimed the bronze medal in Munich, will likely move up to second, and Daniel Arce of Spain will take third place. Finland’s Topi Raitanen won the race.
OTHER SANCTIONS Morocco’s Jouaher, who won the men’s event of the Riyadh Marathon in a lifetime best of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 42 seconds, has been banned from March 14, 2023 for the use of EPO and CERA. His results from May 15, 2022 have been disqualified. Bolivia’s Basco has suspended from July 19, 2023 for the presence of Clenbuterol and his results from October 10, 2022, disqualified. Colombia’s Zuniga has been banned from August 25, 2023 for the use of EPO and his results from July 30, 2023 disqualified.
