The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a statement on February 26 that the Ethiopian middle-distance runner and two-time World Championships medallist (silver in the women's 1500m at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships; silver in the women's 1500m at the 2025 World Indoor Championships), Diribe Welteji Kejelcha, has been banned for two years for refusing to provide a sample, an anti-doping rule violation.The period of ineligibility runs from July 8, 2025 to June 30, 2027; she also missed the World Championships in Tokyo last year because of this. In addition, all competition results achieved by Welteji from February 25, 2025 (inclusive) until the date the CAS decision was issued will be disqualified.This includes her silver in the women's 1500m final at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing in 3:59.30 and her 3:51.44 PB in the women's 1500m at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic — both of which will be annulled.According to details disclosed by CAS: on 25 February 2025, Weertegi failed to provide a sample during an out-of-competition test, ultimately not submitting a sample due to language communication barriers and other reasons. Although the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Agency initially ruled in August 2025 that she bore "no fault, no sanction", World Athletics subsequently appealed to CAS and obtained approval to imposea provisional suspension for the World Championships in Tokyo.
The case dates back to 25 February 2025 25 February 2025. That day, three doping control officers (DCOs) paid an unannounced visit to Weertegi's residence to carry out a routine out-of-competition no-advance-notice test.
According to details disclosed by the AIU, at the timeWeierteji's husband personally received the officials and claimed thatWeierteji was asleep. However, what followed contained "fundamental contradictions" in the eyewitness accounts. Ultimately, the three inspectors left the scene without being able to collect a sample from the athlete.
CAS ultimately found that it constituted a "refusal to submit a sample" violation, but considering language barriers, a prior record of compliance, and some deviations in the sample collection process, therefore ruled it as "negligent rather than intentional", suspending the athlete for two years rather than the four years sought by World Athletics.This also means that rankings and records derived from those results will be annulled; subsequent updates will follow the World Athletics official database.As a star athlete in the inaugural season of the Grand Slam Track,Weierteji had originally, thanks to a dominant record of two wins in three starts, earned as much as $225,000 (about ¥1.6 million) in prize money. With the results annulled, the ownership of that sizable prize has become a focus of subsequent attention.Weierteji's case has once again sounded a warning for professional athletes. Under the strict anti-doping red line, any negligence in procedure, communication, or cooperation can cost the prime of a career.From a historic 3 minutes 51 seconds to the abyss of a two-year ban, all over a single missed sample collection. For the 23-year-old Ethiopian prodigy, what kind of athletics landscape she will face when she returns in 2027 is entirely unknown.
Text:Trail running / Editor:xiaocai
Photo：Trail Running Explosion / Visuals：Max
