AIU temporarily suspends French hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela over whereabouts breach

French hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela, the 100m hurdles silver medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, was temporarily suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on Friday after failing to disclose her whereabouts to anti-doping officials.

The 25-year-old withdrew from August's European Championships because of injury, her representative said, and the representative told AFP that Samba-Mayela had never returned a positive result on an anti-doping test and that the investigation relates solely to a whereabouts breach.

The sanction was imposed on September 18 and could result in a two-year ban.

Elite athletes are required to inform anti-doping officials about their locations, for example if they are attending a training camp away from home or if they are travelling; these locations are used to comply with the rules for random doping tests.

Three failures within a year, such as a missed test or inaccurate information given to the anti-doping officials, can result in punishment.

"The procedure mentioned is ongoing before the AIU and concerns exclusively administrative whereabouts requirements, and not the use of any substance whatsoever," the representative added.

"She [Samba-Maylea] continues to respond within the allotted timeframes and to co-operate fully."