Alysha Newman Faces 20-Month Ban Amid Doping Test Controversy

Former Olympic bronze medalist, Alysha Newman, has been banned for 20 months due to missed drug tests. The pole vaulter missed three anti-doping tests in 2024 leading to the ban. Her career, which includes multiple championships and Olympic medals, has ended, impacting the penalty duration.

Olympic bronze medalist Alysha Newman has been banned for 20 months following missed drug tests, as announced by track and field investigators on Friday. The decision comes despite Newman's decision to retire from competitive pole vaulting.

Newman, 31, who secured a bronze medal for Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics, last competed in Diamond League events in Qatar and Morocco. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) revealed that she missed an unannounced doping control in February last year, as well as two additional tests in August.

The AIU detailed that, during the third incident, Newman informed a sample collection official that she needed to leave for television game show filming. Resultantly, she was charged with an anti-doping violation, as three 'whereabouts' failures within a 12-month span justify prosecution. Her suspension will expire in August 2027, shorter than the standard length due to her career conclusion, deemed an exceptional factor by AIU.