World silver medallist Katir banned two years after admitting to whereabouts failures

MONACO : Spanish runner Mohamed Katir has admitted to an anti-doping violation for three whereabouts failures and has been banned for two years, meaning he will miss this year's Paris Olympics and the 2025 world championships in Tokyo.

The 25-year-old is the world record-holder in the indoor 3,000 metres and the European record-holder in the outdoor 5,000m. He won silver in the 5,000m at the world athletics championships last year in Budapest, and bronze in the 1,500m at the worlds in Eugene, Oregon a year earlier.

Katir announced his provisional suspension in a Feb. 7 statement, saying then that he would appeal the ban, however the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday that he had signed an admission of violation and acceptance of consequences form this week.

Katir admitted to three whereabouts failures in 2023, on Feb. 28, April 3 and Oct. 10. His two-year period of ineligibility will run until Feb. 6, 2026.

"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 a statement.