Sultan Haydar has been removed from the Turkish European Championships squad after her AIU suspension. GETTY IMAGES

Long-distance runner Sultan Haydar has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for Evading, Refusing or Failing to submit to Sample Collection, according to the independent testing authority’s official website. 

The two-time Olympian was set to compete in this week's European Championships’ half-marathon but was removed from the team following the cautionary measure issued by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to a statement by the Turkish Athletics Federation.




"Our national athlete, Sultan Haydar, missed a doping test while she was camping in Ethiopia. Following this development, the International Athletics Integrity Unit affiliated with WADA decided to take precautions against Sultan Haydar before the European Championship.Sultan Haydar has been removed from the squad for the Senior European Athletics Championships to be held in Rome … Legal rights will be used to the fullest, but unfortunately our athlete will not be able to take part in two very important tournaments." Fatih Çintimar, President of the Turkish Athletics Federation, said in the statement.

The Ethiopian-born runner set the Turkish national record of 2:21:27 at the Valencia Marathon last December – well within the Olympic qualifying time.