Brazilian Olympic marathoner receives doping suspension

Daniel do Nascimento, a 2:04 marathoner who famously fist-bumped Eliud Kipchoge during the last Olympic marathon, has been banned after testing positive for three illegal substances.

Brazil’s national marathon record holder and Paris Olympic-bound athlete, Daniel do Nascimento, has been provisionally suspended by the Brazilian Doping Control Authority (BDCA) after testing positive for three banned substances: drostanolone, methenolone and nandrolone.

According to Brazilian media outlet Globo, do Nascimento tested positive for the three anabolic steroids during an out-of-competition test conducted on July 4 while training in Kenya for the Paris Games. As a result, he will miss the Olympics. He was slated to run the marathon after qualifying at last year’s Hamburg Marathon with a time of 2:07:06. His personal best of 2:04:51 from the 2022 Seoul Marathon stands as the South American record. 

The three banned substances in Nascimento’s test are all anabolic steroids (precursors of testosterone). Do Nascimento will likely face a four-year ban from athletics, jeopardizing his dreams for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The 25-year-old’s suspension may be reduced to three years if he admits to the three anti-doping rule violations.

Do Nascimento’s girlfriend, Graziele Zarri, was also suspended earlier this year after testing positive for androstanediol and testosterone in a test conducted by the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK). She ran 2:42:48 in her marathon debut last December in Valencia.

Beside being the South American record holder for the marathon, do Nascimento is most famous for taking a porta-potty stop while leading the 2022 New York City Marathon. He set a blistering pace for 30 km, but ended up collapsing and did not finish the race.

Do Nascimento also made headlines at the 2020 Olympic marathon in Tokyo for exchanging mid-race fist bumps with former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. The moment went viral, making do Nascimento a well-known name in Brazil and the distance running world.

posted Tuesday July 16th
by Marley Dickison