Mo Aman once stood as a shining light of Ethiopian middle-distance running, the man who could beat David Rudisha at his peak, who conquered the 800m world title in 2013, and who helped raise Ethiopia’s profile in a distance dominated by Kenyans and Europeans.
Today, his story is no longer one of dominance and glory, but of disappearance, obfuscation, and bureaucratic limbo. The bizarre and troubling saga of his anti-doping case has taken a new twist — one that calls into question not just his legacy, but also the processes of global anti-doping governance.
Hat tip to Jonathan Gault of LetsRun.com, whose original reporting unearthed the full scope of this strange and troubling saga. All core facts and source documentation stem from his investigative work.
A Drug Test Evaded — And a Vanishing Act
The heart of Aman’s troubles began on January 30, 2021. He was approached by doping control officers (DCOs) at Addis Ababa Stadium for an out-of-competition test. Aman asked to retrieve his passport from his car — a routine enough request. But instead of returning, he sped off.
Aman later claimed that he fled after learning of the sudden death of his wife’s uncle, Jemal Mustafa Emam, and left town to attend the funeral.
That claim was the crux of his defense in front of the Ethiopian National Anti-Doping Office (ETH-NADO). But according to a newly released ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Aman’s explanation didn’t hold up under scrutiny. Among the issues flagged:
- The DCOs reported they saw no evidence Aman received a phone call at the time.
- Aman’s story changed: first, he said his wife called him; later, it was someone else.
- He provided dubious evidence — handwritten notes, no hospital record of Emam’s admission or death, and no verifiable record of the funeral.
Still, ETH-NADO initially sided with Aman, overturning his provisional suspension in June 2021. He was free to compete. But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wasn’t buying it and appealed to CAS in September 2021. Then… nothing happened. For more than three years.
CAS Takes Three Years — Without Explanation
The CAS decision was only handed down on February 20, 2025, a staggering 41 months after the initial appeal. There is no clear explanation for this delay. WADA says it repeatedly followed up with CAS and received no response. CAS has not commented publicly on the matter.
In that decision, arbitrator Carine Dupeyron sided with WADA, finding Aman guilty of evading a drug test and imposing a four-year suspension. But here’s where things get even more confusing.
The Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) global ban list originally showed Aman’s suspension ending in February 2025 — suggesting he had served the four years since his initial 2021 provisional ban.
However, WADA told LetsRun.com that’s incorrect. Because Aman was reinstated during his ETH-NADO appeal in mid-2021 and allowed to compete while the CAS case was pending, only 189 days of his ban should count toward his sentence:
- 114 days from February 15 to June 9, 2021 (his provisional ban)
- 75 days since the CAS ruling on February 20, 2025
According to WADA, Aman still has more than three years left on his suspension.
“He has not served his entire suspension,” WADA spokesperson James Fitzgerald told LetsRun.com.
AIU has not responded to requests for comment, and the discrepancy remains unresolved on their public database.
Aman’s Fall from Grace
Aman, now 31, is undoubtedly Ethiopia’s greatest-ever 800m specialist. His personal best of 1:42.37 is nearly two full seconds ahead of any other Ethiopian. His wins over Rudisha in 2011 and 2012 were historic, and his 2013 World Championship title remains one of Ethiopia’s few in the two-lap event.
He also won World Indoor titles in 2012 and 2014 and was a finalist in what LetsRun.com dubbed the “Race of the Decade” — the 2012 Olympic 800m final where every runner broke 1:44.
But Aman’s career faded after 2017. He hasn’t raced since 2020. Whether that absence was due to this looming anti-doping case, injury, or something else is unclear.
What is clear now is that, officially, he is barred from competition until at least 2028 — and potentially longer depending on how this suspension is administered.
How Did It Go So Wrong?
There are two distinct but overlapping failures in Aman’s case: his own, and those of the anti-doping system.
1. Aman’s Defense Was Shaky At Best
WADA found his timeline, evidence, and story inconsistent. A funeral held the same night of the death, hospital records that don’t exist, and two handwritten notes (one on lined paper) were all that Aman provided in defense. He later failed to participate at all in the CAS proceedings.
2. The System’s Delays Are Inexcusable
While athletes have a responsibility to comply with testing, anti-doping agencies must be timely and transparent. CAS’s unexplained three-year delay undermines trust in the process and potentially affected Aman’s eligibility unfairly in either direction.
As anti-doping expert Dr. Paul Dimeo wrote in The Conversation, “The global anti-doping system is only as strong as its ability to uphold justice — and justice delayed, especially in elite sport, is justice denied.”
A Growing Pattern?
Aman is not the first from that legendary 2012 Olympic 800m final to face suspension. Botswana’s Nijel Amos, who took silver that day, is serving a ban for testing positive for GW1516 — a drug linked to increased cancer risk and once abandoned in early medical trials.
These cases raise broader questions about the state of middle-distance running in the 2010s and the adequacy of anti-doping enforcement, particularly in Africa, where resources and infrastructure often lag.
