The French 5,000m champion in 2014 admitted to having injected EPO and growth hormone.
Laila Traby, former champion of France in the 5,000 meters in 2014, was sentenced on Monday to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros for the possession of doping products a few months after this record.
Syringes of EPO slipped into a box of vitamins and an empty bottle of growth hormone bearing her DNA were discovered on November 7, 2014, in the fridge of her apartment in Font-Romeu (Pyrénées-Orientales) where the runner was training.
His phone also contained what the prosecution described as “a doping protocol“, a table over 31 days bearing the name of authorized vitamins but also, on certain days, simple dosages suggesting that they were prohibited doping products.
Two other people convicted
After contesting the possession of EPO and growth hormone, Ms. Traby had admitted having injected the products which had been presented to her as vitamins authorized and recommended by Salim Ghezielle, at the time his “advise vitamins».
He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, including a one-year suspended sentence, the six months’ imprisonment to be served under the regime of the electronic bracelet at home. The court also imposed a fine of 5,000 euros on him and a ban on professional or voluntary activity related to a sports body for five years.
Read alsoTraby suspended for three years
In his requisitions, the prosecutor had mentioned “the theory of doping without the knowledge of one’s own free will” calling it “half confession“the line of defense of the former sportswoman. The magistrate had described Salim Ghezielle as the one who had incited him to dope, which the latter disputed.
The ex-champion, who opened a beauty salon, had been tested positive, which had earned her a suspension for three years in 2015.
«I don’t want to hear about athletics anymore since this case that shocked me“, Ms. Traby had indicated to the court during the hearing on September 5. She was acquitted of the offense of obstructing the control of members of the French Anti-Doping Agency, who had presented themselves at Font-Romeu.
A third defendant, caretaker of buildings after an abortive career as a marathon runner, was suspected of having provided EPO and growth hormone acquired freely in Morocco. He was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros.
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