World Cup silver medal gone
Olympic star banned for two years
Updated on February 26, 2026 – 7:55 p.mReading time: 1 min.
She came fourth in the 1,500 meters at the Olympic Games and second at the 2025 World Championships. Diribe Welteji now has to wait a while for her next race.
Diribe Welteji has been banned for two years for an anti-doping rule violation. The penalty for the Ethiopian middle-distance runner applies retroactively from July 8, 2025 to June 30, 2027, as the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas announced on Thursday. All results of the Paris Olympic fourth place since February 25, 2025 will be canceled.
With this decision, the Cas partially upheld an appeal by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the World Athletics Association. The AIU had called for a four-year ban for Welteji after Ethiopia’s national anti-doping agency accused the athlete on May 21, 2025 of refusing an unannounced training test without good reason.
After a hearing in August 2025, Welteji was initially acquitted. Shortly before the World Cup in September, the Cas reversed this decision.
Welteji loses her silver medal from the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing due to the suspension. The 23-year-old’s personal best of 3:51.44 minutes over 1,500 meters, which she set on July 5, 2025 in Eugene, is also no longer valid.
