EuropeanAthletics reportsSpanish national Marathon record holder Julio Rey announced his retirement from competitive sport last week. Rey, 37, had been struggling with injuries for the last year and decided to hang up his spikes after being forced to pull out from last month's Amsterdam Marathon.
Rey's personal best in the Marathon - 2:06.52 set in Hamburg in 2006 - is not just a Spanish national record but also the fourth best time set by a European ever.
He won the Hamburg Marathon four times in his career.
He won bronze medals in the Marathon at the last two editions of the European Athletics Championships, in Munich (2002) and Gothenburg (2006). His career highlights also include a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Paris in 2003; second place finishes in the Marathon races in Paris and Fukuoka, Japan, and a fourth place finish at the 1998 London Marathon.
Rey respresented Spain at the last two editions of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004.
At the national level, he won the Spanish Cross Country titles in 1997 and 1998. He also won the 10000m title at the National Championships in 1997 besides the Half-Marathon title in 2004.
He represented Spain on the international stage on 23 occasions.
mzungo.org says: He was tested positive on Mesterolon in 1998 and banned for two years.
His version:
"Ich beharre immer noch auf meiner Unschuld. Die Probe war zwar positiv, aber es war kein Doping, denn ich habe nichts eingenommen. Meine Motivation weiterzumachen war, der Welt zu zeigen, dass ich unschuldig war.
Ich habe im In- und Ausland untersuchen lassen, ob eine Hormonstörung vorliegt - nichts. Und kurz nach dem positiven Test hatte ich eine negative Trainingskontrolle. Ich werde wohl nie erfahren, was passiert ist. Es war der erste positive Test auf diese Substanz. Sie würde einem Läufer wohl auch nichts bringen. Ich habe gehört, es sei vor Viagra ein Mittel gegen Impotenz gewesen."
Free translation: "I have taken nothing."
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