Athletics world championships: Peter Bol qualifies in just fourth race back after doping ban lifted

In just his fourth run back since having a provisional doping ban lifted, Australian 800m record holder Peter Bol has comfortably qualified for next month’s world championships in Budapest.

Peter Bol has qualified for the world championships. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

After the hardest six months of his life, Peter Bol is finally set to get his chance for redemption on the world stage.

In his fourth race back after having his provisional doping ban lifted, the Tokyo Olympics hero has qualified for next month‘s world championships in Budapest.

Bol ran brilliantly in Barcelona on Wednesday night, clocking 1min 44.29sec, which was 0.41sec under the tough 800m qualifying standard.

Peter Bol, pictured during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, has qualified for this year’s World Athletics Championships. Picture: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

The Australian record holder finished second behind Kenyan Kelvin Kimutai (1:44.07sec) with the time – which was his fastest for 12 months – also counting as a qualifying mark for next year‘s Paris Olympics.

Bol, 29, joins his training partner Joseph Deng – a former national record holder – as the only Australians to have qualified for the world titles in Hungary, starting August 19.

It has been a harrowing year for Bol who in January was informed he‘d tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition drug test the previous October in Perth.

He was provisionally suspended on January 20 despite claiming his innocence but a month later the ban was lifted when his B-sample returned an atypical finding, meaning it was an inconclusive test.

While Bol was then cleared to return to training and racing, the investigation by Sport Integrity Australia remains ongoing.

Minor injuries derailed his return and he missed the domestic season because of groin and stomach injuries before finally getting to the start line in June.

Bol dusted off the cobwebs at a low-key meet in France where he finished fourth, clocking 1:45.81sec, and described the comeback to the track as being “calm and peaceful”.

He will now continue to build form and confidence over the next month in Europe and is currently ranked No.10 in the world.

Bol is back 🇦🇺🔥

Racing his way to a Paris Olympic qualifier and the Budapest World Championships standard with a time of 1:44.29 for 800m, Peter Bol finishes in 2nd place in Barcelona. #ThisIsAthletics

— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) July 5, 2023

Bol announced himself at the 2021 Tokyo Games when he spectacularly won the 800m semi-final and then ran bravely in the Olympic final, finishing a heroic fourth.

Last year he made the final of the world championships in Eugene before claiming the silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.