The 34-year old from Lafayette, Louisiana was a world indoor runner-up in 2003 and third at the 2007 world outdoor meet, and also finished 11th in the triple jump at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. 

But after failing to properly file his whereabouts information for USADA's random testing pool three times between July 2012 and July of last year, an independent US arbitrator found this constituted a violation of protocol punishable by a suspension under International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. 

His ban sees him disqualified from all results since July 1, 2013.

The case is made more complicated by the fact that, since failing to make the US team at the Olympic Trials in June 2012, Davis has been effectively in a state of retirement and has not competed at the highest level, although this retirement was not officially confirmed. 

Walter Davis failed to reach the final of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu and has barely competed since 2012 ©Getty Images



Because the case is yet to be closed, and will not be for another 40 days, the IAAF refused to provide a comment on the suspension, but it remains possible they could appeal for an extension to the USADA ban. 

But the decision marks the latest example of an athlete falling foul of the whereabouts violation after two Australians, sprinter Anthony Alozie and Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games javelin champion Jarrod Bannister, were handed 20 month bans for the same offence. 

The most famous example involved British 400m runner Christine Ohuruogu, who was banned for a year for missing three out-of-competition drug tests in 2006 before returning to win the 2007 world title followed by the 2008 Olympic one.

Earlier this year in the sport of badminton, South Korea's former Olympic champion Lee Yong Dae and World Championships medallist Kim Ki Jung were also ruled out of September's Asian Games in Incheon after each was handed a one-year ban for violating the rule.

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