Ophélie Claude-Boxberger has been claiming her innocence since the start of the affair. – SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP
The French athlete Ophélie Claude-Boxberger was sentenced on Wednesday to two years of suspension for doping when the AFLD, the French anti-doping agency, claimed eight. A sentence that may seem lenient since, according to a report commissioned by AFLD and analyzed on March 20 by the sanctions commission, the Frenchwoman had many traces of EPO in her blood following analyzes carried out on September 23, 2019 , on the eve of the Doha World Athletics Championships.
According to our colleagues from The team, the sanctions commission, which wants to be independent from the AFLD, ruled that the explanation of Claude-Boxberger and his lawyer to justify this positive test (his ex-father-in-law and trainer Alain Flaccus would have injected him with the EPO unbeknownst to him) was plausible. At the time, after having confessed the facts, Alain Flaccus had finally made an about-face and denied being at the origin of this positive control.
Claude-Boxberger does not think of appealing
“I don’t think I will appeal,” said the athlete to The team Wednesday. It’s better for me to refocus on the athlete, to rewrite dates on my calendar. Guilty? Not guilty? Anyway, no matter how well you perform on the track, there is always doubt in the eyes of some. I run for myself. I know, I look at myself in my mirror. “
Contacted by our colleagues from France Bleu, Laurent Clozon, the athlete’s lawyer, hoped for even better for his client, but he said he was still satisfied with the verdict. “In view of the allegations of Alain Flaccus at the hearing, we expected a release. But this decision is still good news because it allows Ophélie to resume competition in November, with an eye on the upcoming Olympic deadline ”. Disowned in this case, the AFLD can still appeal.