Is Sports Integrity Australia right to oppose Shayna Jack’s reduced penalty for testing positive to a banned PED?

In January 2020, an International Canoe Federation anti-doping panel also ruled that the Canadian athlete Laurence Vincent Lapointe did not knowingly ingest Ligandrol when trace amounts of were found in her system when failing an out-of-competition doping test in July 2019.

It was accepted that the athlete, having found out that her ex-boyfriend was the source of her positive test from his hair analysis given he consumed a product containing a significant amount of Ligandrol, could have had received trace amounts of Ligandrol from the exchange of body fluids such a saliva, sweat and semen.

Fifth, I believe it is unlikely that a guilty athlete would spend a small fortune on legal fees, $130,000 thus far, defending a claim of accidental ingestion.

With Jack only finding out at her September 2020 Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal from Sports Integrity Australia’s expert report that the amount found in her system was pharmaceutically irrelevant, something Jack should have notified about from the start, Jack also spent $6,000 on hair examples overseas to confirm no long-term use of any prohibited substances.

To conclude, while it is noted that USADA has the resources to conduct lengthy and detailed investigations,  Sports Australia Integrity should follow the USADA example that decides cases involving low-level positive cases on a case-by-case basis, with many involving SARMs which are increasingly finding their way into even reputable dietary and vitamin supplements.

With the USADA example, and many adverse drug findings already receiving reduced penalties when the possibility of accidental ingestion cannot be dismissed, it is hard to believe that Sports Integrity Australia and WADA will win its fight to have Jack’s reduced ban (now two years) restored to four years.