72-year-old runner receives three-year doping ban for multiple substances

If you think you’ve seen it all in running, think again. On Wednesday, the men’s 70+ one-mile American record holder, Robert Qualls of Reno, Nev., was suspended for three years for violating U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) rules after testing positive for multiple prohibited substances. 

The 72-year-old tested positive for amphetamine and 19-norandrosterone (19-NA), a metabolite of nandrolone (19-nortestosterone), and other 19-norsteroids from a urine sample collected at the USATF Masters 5K Championships on Feb. 24, where he won his men’s 70-74 division. Amphetamine is classified as a stimulant, while nandrolone and testosterone are classified as anabolic agents. All these substances are prohibited according to the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

U.S. Track & Field Athlete Robert Qualls Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation https://t.co/S2OXeI9eNo

— USADA (@usantidoping) June 26, 2024

USADA typically does not test masters athletes as frequently as professionals competing at the national level, but according to the report, USADA was contacted by event organizers to conduct testing and manage results for this event.

Qualls is a renowned age-group runner, having won gold in the men’s 70+ 10K at the World Masters Athletics Championships last year in Poland, and another world title at the 2022 World Masters in Finland. He has won the last six USATF Masters 5K Championships for his age category, but his latest win will be disqualified due to the positive doping test.

Qualls, an ecologist and former professor at the University of Nevada (Reno), currently holds the American mile record for the 70+ age group with a time of five minutes and 33 seconds.

Since Qualls admitted wrongdoing and accepted the asserted sanction within 20 days of notification, he will receive a one-year reduction from the otherwise applicable four-year period of ineligibility. He will not be eligible to compete until 2027, when he will be 75.