Zerfe Wondemagegn an athlete from Ethiopia has been banned for five years after testing positive for two banned substances.
She reached the 3,000-meter steeplechase final at the Tokyo Olympics, and narrowly missed the world championship podium last year.
The Athletics Intergrity Unit said in a ruling on Monday that the runner accepted to have broken anti-doping rules after samples she gave had traces of testosterone and another substance EPO which help athletes’ blood transport more oxygen.
Wondemagegn was eighth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and fourth at the 2023 world championships in Budapest.
She was disqualified from the competition while in Hungary where two of the three samples in her case were taken.
The AIU ruling said it received e-mailed testimony from a doctor saying Wondemagegn had been given EPO as medicine to treat severe anemia and a kidney infection but that it “remained satisfied” she had broken anti-doping rules.
The organization added that it had received a signed admission from the athlete last week.
Wondemagegn’s is the latest in a series of doping cases in distance running.
Norah Jeruto 2022 world champion in women’s steeplechase is also facing a doping hearing in June, five weeks before the Paris Olympics.
The AIU also reported a three-year ban for Kenyan road runner Celestine Chepchirchir, who tested positive for testosterone.
