Tested positive at the EPO on September 18, 2019, during a training course which took place a few days before her departure for the World Championships in Doha (Qatar), Ophélie Boxberger appeared this Monday before the sanctions commission of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).
“That day my life changed.
Since then, I try to understand, ”concluded the athlete during the hearing which lasted all day.
For long hours, the athlete from Montbéliard (Doubs), temporarily suspended since the fall of 2019, returned to this scenario considered "incredible" by some.
The 3000 m steeplechase specialist continues to accuse her trainer, Alain Flaccus, of having unwittingly injected an EPO ampoule during a recovery massage.
According to her, Alain Flaccus was jealous of his budding relationship with his companion Jean-Michel Serra, the former doctor of the French athletics team, and therefore sought revenge by doping it.
The case took a judicial turn, Ophélie Boxberger having filed two complaints against her healer.
For poisoning and aggravated rape, which she would have suffered when she was younger.
She also accuses her healer of rape
Heard in the morning by the jury of the sanctions commission, the sportswoman, daughter of the ex-athlete Jacky Boxberger, was extremely factual, supporting her version point by point.
If she accepted that Flaccus, the man she accuses of rape, returns to her entourage, it was in particular to realize her dream of participating in the Worlds.
According to her, however, reconciliation would not have been easy to tackle, Ophélie Boxberger thus recounting having consulted a shrink to help her in her process.
“I accepted him to come back into my life.
In Font-Romeu, there was a tense atmosphere, he could not stand my relationship with Jean-Michel Serra, she said.
I stayed because I needed treatment.
"
The massage session, performed in Font Romeu, during which the athlete - "on antidepressants" - dozed off, was also detailed.
“I fell asleep, dozed off during the massage, and woke up because he was hurting me.
That's why I asked him to show his hands.
He told me it was because his hands were rough because he had been gardening.
"
The doubts have not been lifted
If, at first, Alain Flaccus had confessed to having injected EPO into the sportswoman for "revenge", he has since retracted.
His video hearing this Monday afternoon took place behind closed doors.
Cited as a witness, Ophélie Boxberger's mother came to explain that Alain Flaccus, who was also his companion for a long time, had confessed to him.
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The doubts have not really been raised.
For AFLD, the thesis of a single injection of EPO (September 12, 2019) does not hold and would not be sufficient to explain the traces found in the samples taken.
The AFLD also accuses the athlete of having tried to manipulate Alain Flaccus into accusing himself.
The decision will be rendered within two weeks.
Ophélie Boxberger risks up to 8 years of suspension.