Abel Antón

Who is Abel Antón?

Abel Antón Rodrigo is a Spanish long-distance runner. He won gold medals in the marathon at the 1997 and the 1999 World Championships in Athletics. In 1998 Antón became the first Spanish runner to win the London Marathon. He also won the 10.000 m title at the 1994 European Championships in Athletics.

In 2006 Abel Anton was implicated by Spanish professional cyclist and whistleblower Jesus Manzano in the doping ring that was the focus of the Operacion Puerto doping investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil. Manzano alleged that Abel Anton together with former 5,000-metre champion Alberto García and Spanish 1,500-metre athlete Reyes Estévez were in a hotel where Eufemiano Fuentes, the Spanish sports doctor at the centre of the alleged doping ring, was claimed to have been offering consultations. Manzano went on to declare, in an interview with Italian online cycling journal Tuttobiciweb, that these athletes were all "with Fuentes". Alberto Garcia later served a two-year ban after having tested positive for EPO in 2003.