French runner doping suspension extended to 4 years

PARIS (AP) — The doping suspension of French middle-distance runner Ophélie Claude-Boxberger has been extended to four years by France’s highest administrative court. The athlete tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO before the 2019 track and field world championships. Claude-Boxberger has consistently denied wrongdoing. The case had been referred to the Conseil d’Etat after the country’s antidoping agency appealed an initial decision to suspend Claude-Boxberger for just two years.