The reigning Vancouver and Montreal Half Marathon champion, Mohamed Aagab of Campbellton, N.B., has obtained a three-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).
Aagab supplied a urine pattern after profitable the 2023 BMO Vancouver Half Marathon on Could 7, which revealed the presence of recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO), a prohibited peptide hormone used to enhance efficiency by rising the blood’s capability to hold oxygen.
Aagab was born in Morocco however has lived in Campbellton, N.B., since 2018. He received the Quebec Metropolis Marathon in 2018 and the 2023 21K de Montréal, in addition to the 2023 BMO Vancouver Half Marathon.
In response to CCES, on Oct. 3, Aagab signed an Early Admission and Acceptance Settlement, admitting to the violation and accepting the interval of ineligibility and all different penalties. Consequently, the in any other case relevant four-year interval of ineligibility was decreased by one 12 months, in accordance with the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP). Aagab’s three-year suspension, efficient Sept. 12, 2023, terminates on Sept. 11, 2026.
Aagab competed twice after his optimistic take a look at on Could 7, ending fifteenth general on the 2023 Ottawa Marathon in 2:18:34, ending one spot behind high Canadian Lee Wesselius, who was 14th. He additionally ran in a 5,000m on the Hub Metropolis Basic in Moncton, N.B. on June 10, the place he completed third, in 15:27. Each outcomes might be disqualified, alongside together with his Vancouver Half Marathon win.
Throughout the sanction interval, Aagab is ineligible to take part in any capability with any sport signatory to the CADP, together with coaching with teammates.
That is the primary distance operating anti-doping case in Canada since David Freake of St. John’s, N.L. was given a four-year doping ban when he examined optimistic for EPO and a number of other different banned substances after the 2019 Ottawa Marathon.
