Johannesburg – Olympic long jump silver medallist Luvo Manyonga is set to miss the Tokyo Games after being banned for four years for a second anti-doping rule violation, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday, reports Reuters.
The 30-year-old South African’s ban has been backdated to Dec. 23, when he was provisionally suspended, and he will be eligible to compete again from Dec. 23, 2024 – meaning he will also not be eligible for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Manyonga, who was previously banned for 18 months over the presence of methamphetamine in a sample, was charged with an anti-doping rule violation for missing a test on Nov. 26, 2019, and two filing failures in April and October last year.
World Athletics rules define any combination of three missed tests and/or filing failures within a 12-month period as an anti-doping rule violation.
The independent disciplinary tribunal’s sole arbitrator said Manyonga did not cooperate and declined to attend a hearing scheduled on May 28.
Besides the ban, the athlete’s competitive results from Oct. 1 to Dec. 23 will also be disqualified.
Manyonga, who won silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016, has 30 days to lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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