Auriana Lazraq-Khlass suspended 22 months for whereabouts breaches

Auriana Lazraq-Khlass has been suspended for 22 months by the Athletics Integrity Unit for breaches of her whereabouts obligations, with the ban effective from 26 March 2026, the AIU said on X.

The 27-year-old French heptathlete, who won silver at the 2024 European Championships behind Nafissatou Thiam, was accused of three whereabouts breaches between February and November 2025. Under the World Anti-Doping Code an athlete cannot miss three anti-doping tests and/or filing failures within a 12-month period.

Lazraq-Khlass did not contest her first two breaches, having failed to update her whereabouts in the app that allows the anti-doping authorities to track athletes.

She challenged the third alleged breach, saying that when she tried to update her whereabouts for the following day it was instead applied retrospectively to the same day. The Disciplinary Tribunal said that while Lazraq-Khlass "did not appear to be attempting to evade testing" she had nevertheless displayed "carelessness and negligence".

"The Disciplinary Tribunal has suspended Auriana Lazraq-Khlass for 22 months with effect from 26 March 2026 for breaches of her whereabouts obligations," the Athletics Integrity Unit wrote on X. The punishment of a 22-month suspension is slightly less than the potential two-year maximum, while her results going back to 20 November 2025 will be wiped out.

She had been provisionally suspended since March.

Lazraq-Khlass will remain out of competition until January 2028, six months prior to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.