This is a return that was particularly scrutinized. After four years of suspension for evading an anti-doping test, French athlete Clémence Calvin lined up in competition again, Sunday January 7, taking part in the 10 kilometers of Nice. Authorized to give out a bib since December 17, 2023, the European vice-champion of the marathon in 2018 completed the Prom’Classic in Nice in 32 minutes and 53 seconds (personal best in 31 minutes 20 in 2018) and took the fourth place in this race won by Sarah Madeleine.
Clémence Calvin, 33, had not lined up for a race since the Paris marathon in April 2019. At the time, she had broken the French record by completing the 42.195 km in 2 h 23 min 41, a performance which was ultimately never approved since the athlete was subsequently suspended.
The Clémence Calvin affair began a few days before the marathon when the athlete was provisionally suspended by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) for evading an unannounced test in Morocco where she was training with his companion and coach Samir Dahmani.
Until April 30 to achieve the minimums
The affair took an incredible turn when Clémence Calvin, completely denying the accusations, explained that one of the agents commissioned by the AFLD to control her had not presented himself as such and had attacked her in the street, her child even falling from her arms during the altercation.
Initially, the Council of State lifted the provisional suspension two days before the Paris marathon, allowing Clémence Calvin to run. But she was again provisionally suspended a few weeks later before being sanctioned with a definitive four-year suspension at the end of 2019.
At 33, she now has until April 30 to try to achieve the Olympic minimums in the marathon (2 hours 26 minutes 50). Four French women already meet the qualification criteria but the French team will only be able to field three at the Games.
Read also: After the Clémence Calvin affair, the French Anti-Doping Agency wants to expand its powers