Josh Griffiths served three-month doping ban after Belfast Marathon test

British marathon runner Josh Griffiths served a three-month suspension after a drug test at the Belfast City Marathon returned a positive result, BBC Sport reported. The Athletics Integrity Unit imposed the sanction after benzoylecgonine, a substance produced when the body processes cocaine, was detected in samples collected following the race on 3 May 2026.

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Griffiths, 33, denied taking cocaine or other social drugs and could not establish how it had entered his body. The AIU nevertheless accepted that any ingestion occurred outside competition and was not connected to sport, according to the BBC's account of its ruling. He subsequently accepted both the anti-doping rule violation and the penalty imposed on him.

The suspension ran from the hearing on 19 June for three months, meaning it had already ended by the time of the BBC report on 11 November. His results from the date of the Belfast race through to the end of the suspension were also erased. The sanction therefore affected his recorded performances as well as his eligibility during that period.

The BBC reported that benzoylecgonine was found in both urine samples provided after the marathon. When first informed of the adverse finding, Griffiths rejected the possibility and said there must have been an error. At a subsequent hearing, he maintained that he had never knowingly consumed cocaine and knew of nobody close to him using it before the race.

As part of his explanation, Griffiths supplied details of his movements and activities before Belfast, including his accommodation at the official race hotel. He said he had neither attended social events nor drunk alcohol, and that he had mostly been in contact with athletes and race staff. He also presented scientific evidence supporting his position that any ingestion happened outside competition, which the AIU accepted.

The Carmarthenshire runner emerged nationally at the 2017 London Marathon, where he was the leading British finisher while still a club athlete. That performance earned him selection for the World Championships and preceded his move into professional running. He represented Great Britain at the 2017 and 2022 Worlds, competed for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and finished eighth in London in 2021.