Josh Griffiths banned after Belfast drugs finding

Josh Griffiths, a 33-year-old Great Britain and Wales marathon runner, has been banned after returning a positive drugs test following May's Belfast City Marathon, the World Athletics' Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said. The AIU found Benzoylecgonine in his urine samples and recorded an anti-doping rule violation.

Griffiths rose to prominence as the fastest Briton among club runners at the 2017 London Marathon, which earned him a place in the Great Britain squad for that year's World Championships. He represented Great Britain at the 2017 and 2022 World Championships and ran for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. After turning professional following his 2017 success, he went on to record an eighth-place finish in London in 2021.

The AIU report states Benzoylecgonine, which is found in the body when it processes cocaine, appeared in both samples of his urine provided following the Belfast marathon. Griffiths denied ever taking cocaine or any other social drug and told officials he found the initial adverse finding "absolutely impossible" and that "there must have been a mistake," according to the AIU.

In response to the adverse finding, Griffiths supplied details of his activities and whereabouts before the 3 May race, including his stay at the official race hotel; he stressed he did not attend any social events, did not consume any alcohol and that his contact had been mainly with other athletes and race staff. At a later hearing he reiterated that he had "never knowingly ingested cocaine and was not aware of anyone close to him using the drug in the lead-up to the Belfast race."

The AIU said Griffiths could not show how cocaine entered his system but accepted that any ingestion was out of competition and "unrelated to sport" when imposing the sanction. Griffiths submitted scientific data to support his claim that any ingestion was out of competition, and the AIU went on to agree with that assessment.

Following the AIU findings, Griffiths accepted the anti-doping rule violation and the sanction.

The AIU imposed a three-month ban, which runs from the hearing date of 19 June 2026, and ordered that his race results from the day of the Belfast Marathon, 3 May, until the end of the ban be expunged.