2019 400m World champion Salwa Eid Naser was provisionally suspended Friday, June 5th for not being available for doping tests.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said it has charged the sprinter from Bahrain with whereabouts violations and Naser could miss next year’s Olympics if the case is proven.
Naser won the world title in October, finishing in 48.14 seconds, the fastest time by any woman since 1985.
According to AIU, athletes are required to provide regular updates on their whereabouts to make it possible for anti-doping authorities to carry out surprise testing outside of competition.
A violation means an athlete either did not fill out forms telling authorities where they could be found, or that they weren’t where they said they would be when testers arrived.
The AIU announced her suspension via their Twitter page “The AIU has provisionally suspended Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain for whereabouts failures, a violation of the @WorldAthletics Anti-Doping Rules.”
According to @evelynwatta on Twitter, she tweeted, “Salwa Eid Naser’s manager Pineda said he received info from his athlete. ‘She missed two tests in 2019. During her holidays in Nigeria early 2020 she missed a flight arriving late to her hotel.’ Anti-doping officials missed her at the hotel, ‘producing her third missed test.’
Pineda says any further information can be provided by Bahrain Athletics.
‘For more information, head to Bahrain Athletics Federation who manage Whereabout Sytem for the Athlete.’