The women’s 400-meter world champion Salwa Eid Naser has avoided being banned for a doping rule violation on a technicality, according to a ruling published by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal Tuesday, October 20.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said the charges against Bahraini runner for missed tests and filing failures were dismissed by an independent tribunal.
Naser, who was born in Nigeria but competes for Bahrain, will keep her title and has been cleared to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed the charges brought by the AIU against Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) for alleged Whereabouts failures.
The decision can be read here ⬇️https://t.co/cBkQOqSHT4Thread 👇
1/5 pic.twitter.com/u9iZOKv8cY— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) October 20, 2020
The 22-year-old Naser ran the fastest women’s 400 since 1985 to win the world title last year in Doha, Qatar.
The same technicality — counting back the date of a rule violation to take effect from the start of a three-month period — also allowed American sprinter Christian Coleman to avoid a ban and win the men’s 100-meter world title last year.
“I bless your name God,” Naser wrote in a post to her Instagram Stories, superimposed on a screenshot of the AIU’s announcement of the verdict.
