Mehdi Frère, 2:05:43 French marathoner, runs 28:11 to win the Paris 10km, after 2 year absence

Ghost, appreciate your insight and calling attention to lesser known/up and coming Europeans.

Stop glazing obvious dopers and overlooking suspect performances and circumstances. I completely forgot about this guy but now I remember at the time that this guy was obviously suspicious, and I'm not surprised he had a whereabouts failure.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/mehdifrere/3914167706601371654?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=cXg3NDlkeHpkYTU4

Here Mehdi Frère talks about why he was mistakingly placed on whereabouts failure list. In fact he says in the interview that he explained his situation, and assumed all was well, and then didn't hear from the Federation for 363 days (no news, good news, right?). Then came the verdict, which penalized hapless Mehdi. A U.S. attorney would tear the French Federation to shreds on this one ....

French people? Opinions?

Not a big fan of the guy. During his absence, he posted a few solo rans that looked pretty desperate, a 59'07 HM and a 13'11 5k for instance.
His race yesterday was solid : It's a rather tough course with a steep downhill at the beginning and a final uphill km (~25m D+) and he ran all by himself.

Ghost1 wrote:
Don't read too much into online statements.

TO THA GILLS

Ghost,

Your posts are often interesting and informative about Euro runners that might otherwise go unnoticed. However, why be an apologist or naive about ANY doping ban. There are rules about all of this (for good reasons). Athletes choose to either follow those rules or not - and either way there are consequences for their actions (continued competition opportunities, or a ban of some length).

I speak to French runners. 50% have doubts about him, the other 50% say Mehdi Frère is upstanding.

By the way, his job providing security to the Elysée Palace and President Macron only selects the best police and military policemen. One can assume that those facts support his statement that a miscarriage of justice occurred.

He's been absent 2 years - kudos to him for not losing any fitness - in fact, he's back to the exact same level, at least at 10km. Dude has a strong psych.

https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/disciplinary-process/en/240715-WA-c-Mehdi-Frere-D%C3%A9cision-Modifi%C3%A9e92.pdf

In French, you'll need translation software.

Fascinating stuff and I'll give you a summary as soon as I can find the time.

Looks like he missed three dates.

A list of different dates in which it appears Mehdi Frère falsely reported different locations where he should have been present in Kenya, France and Latvia. He was given multiple opportunities to explain the discrepancies, but none of them added up.

In June 2024, he was given a 2 year suspension from competitions and the annulment of his results from an end date in February 2024.

His suspension came to an end 06 June 2026.

Very unfortunate case. M.F. didn't need to do this, as he's a monster runner in his own right.

Note: AFLD - "Agence Française lutte contre le dopage". (French anti doping control agency).

What boggles the mind is that no ramifications for his coveted job as a high ranking military police officer in "La Garde Républicaine" - the elite police military who keep the President of France and his colleagues safe. France is not the USA.

2 possibilities:

M.F. lied about his locations in 2023/2024.

M F. didn't lie but simply was careless and sloppy with regard to his reported locations at different dates.

Draw your conclusions.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZVQi-BCaYW/?igsh=MWJjcGhidTgxbWVmNg==

Mehdi Frère in action. Superb form. Dude's a monster. Not many years left. I'm guessing around 5 years, he's 30. France are superb now from 1500 to marathon. Monster depth. Frère, Bour, Roudolff Levisse, Navarro, Chahdi, even Amdouni, all vying for selections. "Allez les bleus."

Republican Guard (France) - Wikipedia

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Republican Guard (France)

The Republican Guard (French: Garde républicaine, [ɡaʁd ʁepyblikɛn]) is part of the French National Gendarmerie. It is responsible for special security duties in the Paris area and for providing guards of honour at official c...

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La Garde Républicaine

Mehdi Frère's employer, the most prestigious military police unit in France. This is a special unit that only selects the best candidates - men with integrity, honesty, high IQ and other attributes found in leaders (quick thinkers, but balanced facing stress and attacks).

One can assume that if MF had really done something egregious he would no longer be employed by this unit, but he is.

This means that his employer the "Republican Guard" - is probably giving MF the benefit of the doubt in this case.