Mexico: Olympic medalist Maria Gonzalez accused of presenting false documents

Mexico’s disgraced Olympic silver medallist walker Maria Gonzalez is being investigated for falsifying documents used in her unsuccessful appeal against a four-year ban, the Athletics Integrity Unit said on Tuesday (July 14).

Gonzalez, who finished second in the 20km event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, appealed her ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, claiming her positive drugs test in October 2018 was due to contaminated meat.

CAS rejected the appeal and said Gonzalez, 31, had been charged with a second violation “for tampering, as a result of her submitting forged documents and fabricated evidence, and procuring false witness testimony in the course of the proceedings before the Disciplinary Tribunal for the first violation”.

Gonzalez, who also won the 20km silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in London, will be banned until 2022 for the doping violation.