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Indian 800m runner, Gomathi Marimuthu, and Moroccan marathoner, El Mahjoub Dazza, suspensions were upheld against their respective appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They will both continue to serve their four-year bans.
Marimuthu has tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone. Four different samples were tested, all four showed presence of the banned performance enhancing drug (PED).
The Asian Champion argued that her polycystic ovary syndrome as well as experience a miscarriage contributed to the test results. This argument was rejected.
The 32-year-old owns a personal best of 2:02.70 at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships, which was a red-flag performance from her usual 2:04 to 2:08 times.
Dazza finished eighth in the marathon world rankings before being suspended in January 2020 after anomalies in his athlete biological passport (ABP) were discovered. At that time he was suspended for four years.
Dazza claimed that the testing procedures were unreliable. He also argued that training at altitude affected his blood profiles in the ABP.
Dazza also argued that if he had committed the rule violation, a four-year ban was not the appropriate punishment.
Dazza is ordered to pay a fine and to continue his suspension.
Dazza set the Moroccan national record in 2018, during the Valencia marathon with a 2:05:26 performance. Two years prior, he was the national 5,000m champion. In 2017, he ran the half-marathon in Valencia in the time of 1:01:21.
