French hurdler Dimitri Bascou, an Olympic medallist in 2016, was banned for four years on Friday for a positive test for steroids.
The 38-year-old athlete had been provisionally suspended since April 2024, three months after testing positive for testosterone and boldenone, two banned anabolic steroids.
Bascou, Olympic bronze medallist in the 110m hurdles in 2016 and European champion the same year, said he was "stunned" after the announcement of his positive test in January 2024, which ended his chances of participating in his home Olympics in Paris.
The Martinique-born athlete pleaded contamination via food supplements and hoped that his provisional suspension would be cancelled in time to participate in the Paris Games.
More than two years later, the sanctions commission of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) ruled to suspend him for four years.
Bascou will be suspended until April 2028 but has already indicated in the past that he does not intend to resume his career.