Spanish middle and long-distance runner Patricia Álvarez Pérez has been handed a two-year ban by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal after testing positive for the prohibited substance Furosemide during a World Athletics Label Road Race in Spain.
The case stemmed from an in-competition doping control conducted on March 29, 2025, at the Azkoitia-Azpeitia Diego García Memorial Half Marathon, where Álvarez finished third. Analysis of her urine sample by a WADA-accredited laboratory in Barcelona detected Furosemide, a diuretic and masking agent banned at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.
According to the tribunal decision released by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), Álvarez accepted the presence of the substance and argued that the ingestion had been accidental. She claimed she mistakenly consumed her grandfather’s Furosemide tablet believing it to be Ibuprofen while dealing with pain linked to chronic tendinopathy in her left foot ahead of the race.
The athlete submitted photographs of medication, prescription records and documents showing that her grandparents lived with her. She maintained throughout the proceedings that the violation was unintentional and requested that the tribunal consider reducing the sanction on the grounds of “No Significant Fault or Negligence.”
However, sole arbitrator Eduardo Amorim ruled that while the source of the prohibited substance had been established, the athlete had failed to demonstrate an acceptable standard of care expected from an athlete subject to anti-doping regulations.
The ruling noted that Álvarez stored her medication alongside family prescriptions, packed medication for travel without properly checking labels, and consumed the tablet in poor lighting conditions without verifying the blister pack. The tribunal stated that these actions created a “clear and foreseeable risk” for an athlete liable to doping control.
Álvarez also argued that she should be treated as a recreational athlete because her primary profession was that of a physical therapist rather than a full-time sportsperson. The tribunal rejected that argument, saying anti-doping responsibilities apply equally to all athletes competing under World Athletics regulations regardless of whether sport is their primary source of income.
As a result, the tribunal imposed the standard two-year period of ineligibility applicable to non-intentional violations involving specified substances where no reduction is warranted. The ban is effective from July 14, 2025, the date of her provisional suspension, and all her results from the March 2025 race onwards stand disqualified.