Published 2024-04-22 17.09
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Sara Benfares, 22, ended up in a storm after a positive doping test.
She was accused of lying about cancer.
Now the German distance runner has been suspended for five years.
Last fall, Benfares tested positive for several banned substances.
According to her father, Samir, it was because she had been treated for bone cancer for almost a year. He stated that the star runner ingested the substances in connection with the treatment.
In the meantime, Benfares has been competing and she did not notify the German Athletics Federation of the cancer until she tested positive. Afterwards, suspicions were raised against the explanation when her sister, Sofia, also tested positive.
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full screenSara Benfares. Photo: Instagram
– The doping crime will lead to a severe punishment, but if it turns out that she is lying about having cancer, it would be one of the biggest doping scandals ever. Pretending to have cancer hurts the hundreds of thousands of cancer sufferers in the country. For me, such a scam would be even worse than doping, German doping expert Fritz Sörgel told Sport1 as the suspicions against Benfares piled up.
Continuous use
The German anti-doping organization Nada suspended the sisters under investigation and now the verdict has come against Sara Benfares.
The 22-year-old is suspended for five years.
Nada writes that the punishment is assessed based on the fact that it can be assumed that she has taken drugs classified as doping continuously for a certain period of time. The sentence can be appealed.
Sara Benfares was one of the German athletics hopefuls in this summer’s Olympics.
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full screenSara Benfares. Photo: Felix Sanchez Arrazola / Alamy S
