Track in doldrums after another doping case
French judicial officials.
The Paris prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press they have opened an investigation into whether she breached French doping legislation after her case was referred to the judicial body by the French anti-doping agency, known as the AFLD.
The AFLD declined to answer questions from the AP.
Claude-Boxebreger’s case surfaced months after European marathon silver medalist Clemence Calvin was provisionally suspended by the AFLD for allegedly obstructing a doping test in Morocco in March.
Calvin, who is facing a lengthy suspension, has been summoned to a hearing on Wednesday, with a decision expected before the end of the year.
In this file photo, Morhad Amdouni from France celebrates European 10,000m gold in Berlin last year.
During the world championships, German TV channel ARD reported that another French athlete, Morhad Amdouni, exchanged messages on a social medial chat application with an alleged drug dealer who asked for payment
for EPO and growth hormone from the 2018 European 10,000-meter champion.
With the Tokyo Olympics looming, the three cases have rocked the French track federation, whose chief doctor Jean-Michel
Serra is involved in a romantic relationship with Claude-Boxberger. Serra, who abruptly left the world championships citing personal reasons, was officially reprimanded by the federation earlier this year after he sent a letter to the AFLD asking the body to reduce the number of tests carried out on Claude-Boxberger.
Serra is currently on medical leave and will be questioned by French track officials when he returns to work, federation president Andre Giraud said.
“These cases create discomfort, we can’t deny it,” Giraud said. “Obviously we can’t put somebody behind every athlete night and day. We can rue the fact that we, in France, are doing the job (of testing). Is it being done in other countries? I doubt it.”
After her elimination, Claude-Boxberger had blamed the poor weather conditions for her showing in Doha, where the French team collected only two medals.
According L’Equipe newspaper, ClaudeBoxberger tested positive on Sept. 18 in the Pyrenean ski resort of Font-Romeu, where she fine-tuned her preparations for the worlds. After finishing last in her heat, she said she was sad to conclude her season on such a disappointing note, especially following “a great monthlong training in FontRomeu.”
Claude-Boxberger’s positive test sparked a series of negative reactions from other French athletes, but decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer saw some hope in the recent spate of cases. to