2013 world champion faces baffling doping ban
After Ethiopia's Mohammed Aman fled a doping test in 2021, he served a four-year ban while technically still eligible to compete. Four years later, he still owes WADA three more years
Mos.ru
Ethiopia’s 2013 world 800m champion Mohammed Aman is at the centre of a perplexing doping case. In 2021, the middle-distance star evaded an out-of-competition drug test in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was issued a four-year doping ban–though, as uncovered in an investigation by LetsRun.com, the penalty wasn’t made public until February 2025, after the suspension should have ended.
But due to nearly a three-year delay in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) proceedings, Aman still has more than three years left to serve on his ban.
In January 2021, doping control officers requested a urine sample from Aman while he was training at Addis Ababa Stadium. Aman left without providing a sample, citing a sudden death in the family. In following days, doping control officers were unable to find him at his house for testing.
His reasons for evading the test were not accepted, and in February 2021, he was provisionally suspended by the Ethiopian National Anti-Doping Office (ETH-NADO) for evasion of anti-doping tests. A month later, Aman was handed a four-year ban.
A procedural mess followed. Aman appealed the decision and ETH-NADO overturned the ban, thus permitting him to compete again. But in September 2021, WADA appealed this decision to CAS.
Though CAS completed its review of Aman’s case by April 2022, it took nearly three years to announce its decision. On Feb. 20, 2025, CAS ruled in WADA’s favour and re-instated Aman’s four-year ban but granting him credit for the time already served.
Many assumed Aman, who hasn’t competed since February 2020, had already completed the four-year suspension. The Athletic Integrity Unit(AIU) database shows Aman has been disqualified since his infraction on Jan. 30, 2021, and has four years of ineligibility; however, the site also lists him as ineligible for another three years, until Oct. 29, 2028.
WADA reportedly told LetsRun.com that Aman, now 31, only gets credit for 189 days of the ban–the time during which he was actually barred from competing. Because ETH-NADO’s decision to overturn the ban permitted him to race during the rest of the period, the remaining 1,271 days–around three and a half years–still must be served.
At the Moscow 2013 World Athletics Championships, Aman made history as the first Ethiopian to win a world outdoor 800m title. At just 19, he clocked 1:43.31 to take gold. A two-time Olympian (London 2012 and Rio 2016), he also holds two indoor world titles and the national record 1:42.37.
