Summary
- Sport: Athletics
- Issue: Arbitration
- Type: Anti-Doping
- Tribunal: Christopher Quinlan QC, Professor Dorian Haskard, Lorraine Johnson
- Decision date: 23 February 2018
- Outcome: A period of Ineligibility imposed by the Tribunal was four (4) years.
Decision Details
On 24 June 2017, javelin thrower Joanna Blair was subject to an Out-of-Competition test whilst representing Team GB in France.
Analysis of Ms Blair’s urine sample returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (“AAF”) for 17β-hydroxy-17a-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, a metabolite of metandienone. Ms Blair was subsequently charged with an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for the Presence of a Prohibited Substance under IAAF Anti-Doping Rule (ADR) Article 2.1 and the matter referred to the NADP for determination.
Following a hearing in London, the NADP Tribunal consisting of Mr Christopher Quinlan QC (Chairman), Professor Dorian Haskard and Ms Lorraine Johnson were not satisfied that Ms Blair had established how the metandienone entered her system and as such, had not discharged her burden to establish the ADRV was not intentional, as defined in the ADR. The applicable sanction imposed was therefore four years.