Thiago Braz, Olympic pole vault record holder, fails to qualify for Paris 2024. GETTY IMAGES

The Brazilian, who has been suspended for doping but is appealing the decision, had been granted permission by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to compete in his home country this weekend but failed to reach the required 5.82m for Paris 2024, registering a jump of 5.65m.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the anti-doping body that suspended pole vaulter Thiago Braz, announced on Friday that CAS accepted Thiago's request for interim measures and allowed him to compete. 

The suspension of the Rio 2016 Olympic champion was for 16 months, until November 2024, for doping after he tested positive for ostarine - a banned substance that he claims he ingested unintentionally through dietary supplements. 

Braz appealed his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which allowed him to compete this Saturday in an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games. However, he failed to achieve the required minimum score and will not be at Paris 2024. 

Thiago Braz jumped 5.65m this Saturday and did not reach the required 5.82m to qualify for Paris 2024. GETTY IMAGES
Thiago Braz jumped 5.65m this Saturday and did not reach the required 5.82m to qualify for Paris 2024. GETTY IMAGES

The competition was held in Brazil and Braz competed with the aim of reaching a height he has not exceeded since July 2022. Braz, competing for the first time since last July, reached 5.65 metres. With this result, even if CAS were to overturn his ban before the start of the Paris Olympics, he would not be able to compete. Braz had won medals at the last two Olympic Games, with gold in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo in 2021.

He missed last year's World Championships in Budapest due to a provisional ban. Among his other achievements are a runner-up finish at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and a fourth-place finish at the 2022 World Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. 


Thiago's coach is Vitaly Petrov, the most respected pole vault coach in the world. Petrov has worked with Sergei Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva and his compatriot Fabiana Murer, who has been a friend and mentor to the athlete since he was 15. Braz's precociousness led him, at 23, to become his country's Olympic champion in Rio 2016. 

On that occasion, Braz made history in the sport by winning the gold medal, beating Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie with a jump of 6.03 metres, which became the new Olympic, South American and Brazilian record. He currently holds the Olympic record of 6.03 metres. He is a long way from the world record of 6.24 metres held by Armand Duplantis. Braz's mark is clearly under threat this summer at Paris 2024 with Duplantis in very strong form.