European 5,000m Champion Returns to Racing After Doping Suspension

Ilias Fifa won this Sunday with a time of 31min41sec in the Nou Barris road race in Barcelona. The Spanish athlete of Moroccan origin returned to the tracks on May 14 last at the Serrahima stadium in Barcelona, finishing second in the 3,000 meters with a time of 7:52.73 during the second day of the Spanish championship.

At 33 years old, the native of Tangier illegally arrived in Spain in 2005 and was admitted to a youth center where he discovered his passion for running and started training, reports Sport. He left the center at the age of 22 and began his professional career, timidly with the Union of Athletics of Colomenca, and more seriously with the Association of Athletics of Catalonia in 2008 with the coaches Rafa Caro and Esther Rodríguez.

In 2012, he signed with FC Barcelona and won the gold medal in the 5,000 meters at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam with a time of 13:40.85, beating his compatriot, also naturalized Spanish, Adel Mechaal. That same year, he became the Spanish champion of the 5,000 meters and participated in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where he finished ninth in the same category.

On October 25, 2017, he was arrested for doping and suspended for four years on May 16, 2018 by the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (AEPSAD). After this sanction, FC Barcelona, the club of which he was a member, decided not to renew his contract for the following season. On February 29, 2019, the National Court reduced his sentence to two years.