French heptathlete Auriana Lazraq-Khlass has received a 22-month suspension following violations of anti-doping regulations. The 2024 European silver medallist faced allegations involving three breaches of whereabouts requirements that occurred between February and November 2025.
Anti-Doping Violations and Tribunal Ruling
World Anti-Doping Code guidelines dictate that athletes are prohibited from accumulating three missed anti-doping tests or filing failures within a 12-month timeframe. The Athletics Integrity Unit announced via social media that the Disciplinary Tribunal sanctioned the athlete starting from 26 March 2026 due to her failure to meet whereabouts obligations.
The 27-year-old athlete accepted responsibility for her initial two infractions, which stemmed from omitting updates to the tracking application utilized by anti-doping officials. However, she contested the third breach, explaining that an update intended for the following day was mistakenly applied retrospectively to the current day.
According to the tribunal, although Lazraq-Khlass showed no signs of trying to avoid testing, her actions still demonstrated carelessness and negligence. The 22-month ban falls just short of the maximum two-year penalty, and all competitive results achieved by the athlete from 20 November 2025 onward will be annulled.
Career Impact and Timeline
Having served a provisional suspension since March, Lazraq-Khlass will remain ineligible to compete until January 2028, which is six months before the start of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Her previous career highlights include a 16th-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics, alongside 12th and 18th-place results at the World Championships in 2023 and 2025 respectively.
