The middle and long-distance runner Sara Benfares from LC Rehlingen has tested positive for banned substances. Benfares is part of Team Saarland for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Six months before the Summer Olympics in Paris there is a positive case of doping in Saarland. As the LC Rehlingen confirmed to the SR, the track and field athlete Sara Benfares tested positive for banned substances in the A sample.
Positive for Epo and testosterone
She is part of the Saarland team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In accordance with the regulations of the German Athletics Association, suspension proceedings have been initiated.
According to a report in the Saarbrücker Zeitung, Benfares is said to have been tested for two banned drugs – the blood doping agent EPO and testosterone.
Benfares became German U23 champion over 1500 meters in 2021 and won the ten-kilometer road race title in 2022.
Association appears shocked
Lothar Altmeyer, the president of the Saarland Athletics Association SLB, was shocked. This is a very bad matter, but the association is not yet aware of any further details, Altmeyer told the SR.
Johannes Kopkow from the state sports association said that Benfares was temporarily excluded from the Saarland team for the 2024 Olympics and would no longer receive financial support from the Saar Sports Foundation until the case was clarified.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has provisionally suspended Benfares.
The SR radio news also reported on this topic on January 30, 2024.
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