Josh Griffiths enjoyed one of the biggest victories of his recent career, winning the men’s race at the 2025 Manchester Marathon in 2:16:56. The Welsh distance runner, who also finished eighth at the 2021 London Marathon, was looking ahead to more competitions at 33. However, his plans took an unexpected turn after he tested positive for a banned substance following the Belfast City Marathon. While the finding put his career under scrutiny, his explanation during the investigation helped reduce his suspension to three months.
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The Athletics Integrity Unit announced the sanction on November 11, 2026, after benzoylecgonine, a metabolite produced when the body processes cocaine, was detected in Griffiths’ urine sample. The sample was collected after the Belfast City Marathon on May 3, where he finished fourth in 2:18:01. He was informed of the positive finding on June 19, and the result was later confirmed by testing his B sample in July.
His suspension ran from June 19 to September 18, meaning he had already served the ban when the case became public. He also lost his fourth-place finish in Belfast, as all his results from May 3 onwards were disqualified, along with any associated prize money.
Griffiths strongly denied knowingly taking cocaine when he was informed of the test result. He reportedly described the finding as “absolutely impossible” and said, “there must have been a mistake.” The 33-year-old maintained that he had never knowingly used cocaine or any other social drug and provided investigators with details of his activities before the Belfast race.
During the investigation, he explained his movements and stay at the official race hotel. He said he had not attended social gatherings or consumed alcohol before the event. He also stated that most of his interactions had been with other athletes and race personnel and that he was not aware of anyone close to him using cocaine. Griffiths suggested that inadvertent environmental contamination could have caused the positive result, although he was unable to establish exactly how the substance entered his body.
Griffiths also submitted scientific evidence to support his explanation. He maintained that any ingestion had taken place outside the competition period and was unrelated to his sporting performance. Expert evidence reportedly raised the possibility of low-level exposure through coca tea and suggested that recreational cocaine use would likely produce a much higher concentration of benzoylecgonine. However, this remained a possible explanation. The AIU accepted that the ingestion had occurred outside competition, before the end of May 2, and was unrelated to his performance.
This allowed his case to fall under the anti-doping rules for substances of abuse, which provide a three-month suspension in such circumstances. By comparison, an intentional anti-doping violation can carry a ban of up to four years under the standard rules. Griffiths accepted the violation and agreed to the three-month sanction without a hearing. Although he received a shorter ban, he was not cleared of the violation. The case is another setback in the career of a runner who has represented Great Britain at two World Athletics Championships.
Josh Griffiths’ journey from marathon debut to international success
Griffiths first came into the spotlight at the 2017 London Marathon, where he finished as the fastest British runner in his marathon debut, clocking 2:14:49. His performance earned him a place on the British team for the World Championships that year.
He went on to represent Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, where he finished 15th in the marathon. His career continued to progress, with a victory at the Welsh 10K Championships in 2019 and an eighth-place finish at the 2021 London Marathon. In 2022, he returned to the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, where he set his marathon personal best of 2:11:28 in Seville.
More recently, Griffiths added another major achievement to his record by winning the 2025 Manchester Marathon in 2:16:56. These performances reflect the years he has spent building his career, making the doping ruling a particularly difficult setback.