Sara Benfares: Doping? German athlete ends her career at the age of 22

Sport Sara Benfares

Doping? German runner ends her career at 22

Status: 19.03.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Sara Benfares in the 2022 women’s 5000 meters final

Source: dpa/Angelika Warmuth

Track and field athlete Sara Benfares has ended her career. The runner had previously tested positive for testosterone and the blood doping drug Epo. The entire case also affects her family.

Track and field athlete Sara Benfares, who is suspected of doping, has ended her career, according to her lawyer. This was reported by Saarländischer Rundfunk with reference to the 22-year-old’s legal counsel.

The European Championship and World Cup participant tested positive for testosterone and the blood doping drug Epo. Her father justified this in a French portal by saying that his daughter was suffering from bone cancer and should not have waited to take urgent medication. Samir Benfares had announced the step to end his daughter’s career.

Diffuse bone disease?

After Sara Benfares, her sister Sofia Benfares (19) also tested positive for Epo. This was confirmed by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). Both athletes were subsequently excluded from their club, LC Rehlingen. The membership of the older sister Selma was also withdrawn.

Sofia Benfares at the German Athletics Championships 2023

Quelle: pa/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/KJPeters

A few weeks earlier, the club had sent a list of questions to the family living near Paris after NADA had confirmed that the banned blood doping agents Epo and testosterone had been found on Sara Benfares. The club’s chairman, Thomas Klein, recently told the German Press Agency that Samir Benfares, the father and coach of the three sisters, responded to the question and deadline. However, there was “no will for transparency and clarification” to be found there.

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Sara Benfares’ lawyer spoke in the SR report of his client’s diffuse bone disease. Therefore it is not a doping case.

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According to SR, it remains unclear what illness Sara Benfares is suffering from. “After the allegations became known, her father Samir claimed that Benfares was suffering from bone cancer and had to be treated, but there was no necessary medical exemption,” the report says.