Iga Swiatek receives doping ban after positive test for banned substance trimetazidine

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Yes, she should have stopped taking it when the letter went out. She chose to test the system.

In doing so, she also gambled that if she were exposed, she would jump ahead of the scandal with that empty press conference designed to suggest she was just wandering around not knowing what she was taking.

Meldonium is a banned substance and if you took it after the fact that it was banned, you broke the rules. Hyperbaric chambers, cvac machines, and oxygen pods are still permitted by WADA so he didn't break any rules. One has nothing to do with the other.

Yeah, but he's the object of so much hatred, either for the rules he did not break, or other personal decisions.

WADA put it on the monitoring list ONE YEAR before banning it but her agent Eisenbud and his small agency (IMG) missed it month after month.

That aside, Dopapova handled it like a gangsta Yeh, I took it. For 10+ years. And also this carpet is fugly!

Respect the OG doper!

Quite unlikely that Sharapova, her agent, trainers and the rest of her team just "missed" Meldonium;s monitoring, when its purpose had been known for quite some time in published articles at the very least. She--and her team--knew exactly wht they were doing.

 

[Bartelby]

The Meldonium disinformation campaign trundles on ... the Sharapova case is relevant only in the same way Halep's is.

We have gone from a hardline approach to doping to a softly-softly approach under the ITIA, which needs urgent review.

 

[jm1972]

The Meldonium disinformation campaign trundles on ...

LOL...

 

[vokazu]

This is great news if it means less crowds and lower tournament ticket prices.

Tennis is Finnish.

How come right now there are people playing tennis in Fiji?

 

[Arak]

Regarding Meldonium, I remember clearly that there was a controversy about the email because it did not mention Meldonium or any other newly added substances in the text. It contained an attachment of the new updated list of banned substances, with old and new all bundled together. Many athletes missed the Meldonium thing due to this reason. I think it would have been more sensible to mention the newly added substances separately or in the email text, or at least highlight the changes.
As was mentioned above, the athletes who actually stopped taking Meldonium kept on testing positive for months, and were punished, as it was unknown at the time that it remained in the body for several months. I personally feel that the Meldonium case was not handled properly by the authorities and more research should have been done.

 

[Bambooman]

This is simply false. It was an email, not a letter, by the way.

An email is sorta like a modern letter.

 

[Bartelby]

I know but the person I was talking to was trying to pretend he knew something I didn't. If he knew the case he would have known it was an email.

An email is sorta like a modern letter.

 

[jmnk]

Even if that was the plan, there is no downside in listing melatonin on the doping declaration form.
She listed 14 others but excluded the melatonin. Not listing it makes her look more suspicious.
She claims she was tired and forgot. Possible, but it is more likely that it was an intentional omission. But why?

True. But then, if we assume that the plan was "if we get caught then we are going to claim the drug came from contaminated but otherwise perfectly legal melatonin" then wouldn't it make _more_ sense to list it on the the form?? What's the benefit of omitting listing a perfectly legal drug, which is widely used by tennis players?

 

[FeroBango]

If they don't start enforcing the rules on this and just ban based on + test results this mess will never get cleaned up.

If a player tests + they should be banned. Period.

Not when we have dozens of fans to believe their fake, made-up stories.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

True. But then, if we assume that the plan was "if we get caught then we are going to claim the drug came from contaminated but otherwise perfectly legal melatonin" then wouldn't it make _more_ sense to list it on the the form?? What's the benefit of omitting listing a perfectly legal drug, which is widely used by tennis players?

Don't see any reason why she would omit listing it. And not buying her "I forgot" excuse; she listed 14 others.
If she was doping, the omission was likely intentional and part of the doping plan but the mystery is what would be the benefit of not listing a perfectly legal supplement/drug.

 

[jmnk]

Don't see any reason why she would omit listing it. And not buying her "I forgot" excuse; she listed 14 others.
If she was doping, the omission was likely intentional and part of the doping plan but the mystery is what would be the benefit of not listing a perfectly legal supplement/drug.

hmm. So you are saying that omission was intentional and part of the plan. And you also say it is a mystery why she would omit listing it and you do not see any reason why she would do it.

Don't you find it contradicting?

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

hmm. So you are saying that omission was intentional and part of the plan. And you also say it is a mystery why she would omit listing it and you do not see any reason why she would do it.

Don't you find it contradicting?

Think we both agree that her official excuse of "I was tired and forgot to list it" but listing 14 other on her doping form is not credible. It is possible but not likely.
If we assume that she was intentionally doping there is no reason to omit listing it. If she tested positive, she can just pull out the contaminated bottle and point to the melatonin she honestly listed on her doping form. Omitting a legal supplement on doping form just makes her look suspicious. But she must have had some rationale in her mind for omitting it. But can't figure out what that rationale would be.

 

[anarosevoli]

hmm. So you are saying that omission was intentional and part of the plan. And you also say it is a mystery why she would omit listing it and you do not see any reason why she would do it.

Don't you find it contradicting?

He wrote this BECAUSE it's contradicting.
Funny to see that it already appears strange to some people when somebody not just stupidly writes some black or white bs.

 

[Bartelby]

Maybe she simply thought, wrongly, that if it was not listed they might test for it,

Think we both agree that her official excuse of "I was tired and forgot to list it" but listing 14 other on her doping form is not credible. It is possible but not likely.
If we assume that she was intentionally doping there is no reason to omit listing it. If she tested positive, she can just pull out the contaminated bottle and point to the melatonin she honestly listed on her doping form. Omitting a legal supplement on doping form just makes her look suspicious. But she must have had some rationale in her mind for omitting it. But can't figure out what that rationale would be.

 

[jmnk]

He wrote this BECAUSE it's contradicting.
Funny to see that it already appears strange to some people when somebody not just stupidly writes some black or white bs.

I think I was not clear. I'm saying that @Better_Call_Raul reasoning is contradicting. NOT Swiatek's action.

Neither he, nor I, can find a single reason why omitting the fact she took melatonin is in any way beneficial to her case. Can you think of a reason?

So perhaps, as unlikely as it seems, she indeed simply forgot?

 

[jmnk]

Maybe she simply thought, wrongly, that if it was not listed they might test for it,

what do you mean? test for what? A legal drug melatonin? Could you elaborate?

 

[Bartelby]

You seem to have set aside the hypothesis that she knew her version of the drug contained illegal elements.

what do you mean? test for what? A legal drug melatonin? Could you elaborate?

 

[jmnk]

Think we both agree that her official excuse of "I was tired and forgot to list it" but listing 14 other on her doping form is not credible. It is possible but not likely.
If we assume that she was intentionally doping there is no reason to omit listing it. If she tested positive, she can just pull out the contaminated bottle and point to the melatonin she honestly listed on her doping form.

I agree with the above

Omitting a legal supplement on doping form just makes her look suspicious. But she must have had some rationale in her mind for omitting it. But can't figure out what that rationale would be.

Why would it make her look 'suspicious'?

 

[jmnk]

You seem to have set aside the hypothesis that she knew her version of the drug contained illegal elements.

Not sure if I follow. Per the documents about the case she in fact provided the very sample of melatonin she was using (along with the sealed one) _to show_ that it was indeed contaminated. I'm not trying to be argumentative - just do not see your line of reasoning.

 

[Bartelby]

I'm suggesting that the documents tell a partial story favourable to Swiatek. The hypothesis that she deliberately cheated is not something I would exclude if I were playing Hercule Poirot.

Not sure if I follow. Per the documents about the case she in fact provided the very sample of melatonin she was using (along with the sealed one) _to show_ that it was indeed contaminated. I'm not trying to be argumentative - just do not see your line of reasoning.

 

[jmnk]

I'm suggesting that the documents tell a partial story favourable to Swiatek. The hypothesis that she deliberately cheated is not something I would exclude if I were playing Hercule Poirot.

oh, absolutely agree, there's of course a possibility that she indeed was doping. I'm just not understanding why you are implying that her not listing melatonin helps her to prove she was _not_ doping.

 

[Bartelby]

I'm not saying that it's a rational move, but why would we expect her to reason perfectly?

oh, absolutely agree, there's of course a possibility that she indeed was doping. I'm just not understanding why you are implying that her not listing melatonin helps her to prove she was _not_ doping.

 

[jmnk]

I'm not saying that it's a rational move, but why would we expect her to reason perfectly?

ok, I'm going to leave that topic. I'm really not following what you are saying.

 

[Bartelby]

It's pretty clear. I'm suggesting that she probably deliberately cheated but did it somewhat badly. Why someone would take on trust the story of the sealed container is beyond me.

ok, I'm going to leave that topic. I'm really not following what you are saying.

 

[Arak]

I think I was not clear. I'm saying that @Better_Call_Raul reasoning is contradicting. NOT Swiatek's action.

Neither he, nor I, can find a single reason why omitting the fact she took melatonin is in any way beneficial to her case. Can you think of a reason?

So perhaps, as unlikely as it seems, she indeed simply forgot?

I agree that we are giving the omission too much attention. It could be simply that she forgot. That doesn’t change the fact that her melatonin supplements including unopened bottles are contaminated. The most important factor is to check whether the same batch of production that is sold to the public contains the same contamination. If it does then I would acquit her from any wrongdoing and even lift the ban. If only her supplements are contaminated that would very serious and she should be banned for a serious length of time.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

Why would it make her look 'suspicious'?

Use whatever word you like but it certainly does not help her case. Melatonin is legal but she is required to declare all supplements/drugs.
Listing 14 others but omitting the one that caused a positive. The one she had just taken for jet lag hours earlier.
The ITIA itself deemed her forgetfulness excuse to be "unsatisfactory" and it may have played a role in her penalty.

 

[Bartelby]

This is correct. Only an extensive, independent sampling of the factory's production would exonerate her. Placing any weight on a sealed sample provided by a possible doping cheat is naive.

I agree that we are giving the omission too much attention. It could be simply that she forgot. That doesn’t change the fact that her melatonin supplements including unopened bottles are contaminated. The most important factor is to check whether the same batch of production that is sold to the public contains the same contamination. If it does then I would acquit her from any wrongdoing and even lift the ban. If only her supplements are contaminated that would very serious and she should be banned for a serious length of time.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

I agree that we are giving the omission too much attention. It could be simply that she forgot. That doesn’t change the fact that her melatonin supplements including unopened bottles are contaminated. The most important factor is to check whether the same batch of production that is sold to the public contains the same contamination. If it does then I would acquit her from any wrongdoing and even lift the ban. If only her supplements are contaminated that would very serious and she should be banned for a serious length of time.

The Polish manufacturer said that any levels of TMZ found were fall below the acceptable level and that the public was never at risk of harm.
It raises the question of whether an insignificant manufacturing defect should trigger a doping violation.

 

[jmnk]

Use whatever word you like but it certainly does not help her case. Melatonin is legal but she is required to declare all supplements/drugs.
Listing 14 others but omitting the one that caused a positive. The one she had just taken for jet lag hours earlier.
The ITIA itself deemed her forgetfulness excuse to be "unsatisfactory" and it may have played a role in her penalty.

but that is exactly the point - it does not help her case. Which kind of means that she indeed simply forgot to list it, no?

 

[jmnk]

I agree that we are giving the omission too much attention. It could be simply that she forgot. That doesn’t change the fact that her melatonin supplements including unopened bottles are contaminated. The most important factor is to check whether the same batch of production that is sold to the public contains the same contamination. If it does then I would acquit her from any wrongdoing and even lift the ban. If only her supplements are contaminated that would very serious and she should be banned for a serious length of time.

Per the documents of the case they did indeed find that this batch was contaminated, right?

 

[Arak]

The Polish manufacturer said that any levels of TMZ found were fall below the acceptable level and that the public was never at risk of harm.
It raises the question of whether an insignificant manufacturing defect should trigger a doping violation.

It doesn’t matter what the polish manufacturer says. The products available to the public should be tested independently as well. If they show the same level of contamination, I believe she must be innocent.

 

[Arak]

Per the documents of the case they did indeed find that this batch was contaminated, right?

I haven’t read anywhere that the product was tested, only her bottles.

 

[TennisBro]

The Polish manufacturer said that any levels of TMZ found were fall below the acceptable level and that the public was never at risk of harm.
It raises the question of whether an insignificant manufacturing defect should trigger a doping violation.

Do we know whether the Polish manufacturer's product testing is parallel to the one of the anti-doping agency? Perhaps the standards of what is "at risk of harm to the public" isn't the same as the standard of "at risk of higher performance levels when competing in the sport".

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

How did the TMZ get into Swiatek’s system?​

Swiatek explained that she has used melatonin to help regulate her sleep patterns and deal with jet lag, which came as a result of her frequent travel. In Poland, melatonin is classified as a medication and is available to buy off the shelf in pharmacies and Swiatek said her physio would usually buy the product for her.

She arrived at the Cincinnati Open shortly before August 12, where she was called to provide a sample for doping control at around 6-7am.
A urine sample was collected and taken to a WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal for analysis.

Swiatek was asked to list on a doping control form any “medications or supplements” she had taken over the past seven days. She provided a list of 14 supplements and medications on the form but did not include melatonin, even though Swiatek later explained that she had ingested two to three tables of the product at around 2-3am that morning when she was unable to sleep.

In providing evidence to the ITIA, Swiatek explained that she forgot to include melatonin because it was not on her list of medications and supplements that she would copy across from form to form. She also said she was tired, having had her sleep interrupted by being summoned by doping control.

The ITIA later said the reasons for this omission were “unsatisfactory”.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

I haven’t read anywhere that the product was tested, only her bottles.

It appears that ITIA tested only her personal bottles. Not bottles from the production batch.
The company says its facilities are regularly inspected and that it follows best manufacturing practices.

 

[Bartelby]

The company does not state it's cooperating with the ITIA, only the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate.

 

[Arak]

It appears that ITIA tested only her personal bottles. Not bottles from the production batch.
The company says its facilities are regularly inspected and that it follows best manufacturing practices.

Please buy our melatonin supplements with confidence. They not only give you the benefits of sleep regulating effects of melatonin, but they also provide you with a healthy dose of trimetazidine, which will give you more endurance and oxygen use efficiency which is good for angina sufferers and athletes looking for a performance boost.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

The company does not state it's cooperating with the ITIA, only the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate.

The company has no reason to cooperate with ITIA.
The company should only have to adhere to safe pharmaceutical contamination standards and not some arbritary doping standard set by a sport bureaucracy.

https://www.itftennis.com/media/2148/nutrition-supplements.pdf

Dietary supplements may be used to provide the body with extra fuel before, during, and after training. However, supplements should be regarded with caution, for several reasons. Not only are the long-term physiological effects of many dietary supplements not fully understood, but the supplement industry is largely unregulated, and so they are not subject to the manufacturing rigour that occurs in the food industry. As such, there is no guarantee that the ingredients list on any supplement is accurate. Some supplements contain ingredients that are not listed on the label, or in different amounts than stated on the label. As such, there is no way to guarantee the safety and/or purity of these products.

Many athletes have produced positive doping tests as a result of ingesting supplements, including in tennis. Under the strict liability principle adopted by the WADA Code (and so the Tennis AntiDoping Programme), athletes are responsible for any substance found in samples produced by them, and so a contaminated supplement will not excuse a positive doping test.

As such, the ITF does not recommend any supplement. Any player who consumes a dietary supplement does so at their own risk. Players who consume supplements may be subject to sanctions under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

 

[TennisBro]

The company has no reason to cooperate with ITIA.
The company should only have to adhere to safe pharmaceutical contamination standards and not some arbritary doping standard set by a sport bureaucracy.

https://www.itftennis.com/media/2148/nutrition-supplements.pdf

Dietary supplements may be used to provide the body with extra fuel before, during, and after training. However, supplements should be regarded with caution, for several reasons. Not only are the long-term physiological effects of many dietary supplements not fully understood, but the supplement industry is largely unregulated, and so they are not subject to the manufacturing rigour that occurs in the food industry. As such, there is no guarantee that the ingredients list on any supplement is accurate. Some supplements contain ingredients that are not listed on the label, or in different amounts than stated on the label. As such, there is no way to guarantee the safety and/or purity of these products.

Many athletes have produced positive doping tests as a result of ingesting supplements, including in tennis. Under the strict liability principle adopted by the WADA Code (and so the Tennis AntiDoping Programme), athletes are responsible for any substance found in samples produced by them, and so a contaminated supplement will not excuse a positive doping test.

As such, the ITF does not recommend any supplement. Any player who consumes a dietary supplement does so at their own risk. Players who consume supplements may be subject to sanctions under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

Mr. Knoweverything, I wonder if there's any product that's got everything in it on its label. ITF's an organization that's always tried to wash its hands of any liabilities.

 

[Rovesciarete]

The company has no reason to cooperate with ITIA.
The company should only have to adhere to safe pharmaceutical contamination standards and not some arbritary doping standard set by a sport bureaucracy.

https://www.itftennis.com/media/2148/nutrition-supplements.pdf

Companies are trying to make a profit. Reducing the level of contaminations greatly from earlier production runs or supplies cuts into said profit. For the consumption, by the normal costumer, it doesn't matter as long as it meets regulatory standards, with a certain safety margin, to allow for fluctuations.

The ATP/WTA could in theory supply to the athletes the most commonly used medications 'trace-tested'. Maybe for certain supplements as well.

P.S: The product range of LEKAM, among them (Rx):

Melatoninum PR 2 mg TABLETS, PROLONGED -RELEASE Sleep disorders
Trimetazidini dihydrochloridum MR 35 mg TABLETS MODIFIED RELEASE Cardiovascular System

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

Including you lol.

I post regularly in WTA threads.

 

[Bartelby]

Then Swiatek has no objective evidence that any other container was contaminated. One month is a ridiculous suspension.

The company has no reason to cooperate with ITIA.
The company should only have to adhere to safe pharmaceutical contamination standards and not some arbritary doping standard set by a sport bureaucracy.

https://www.itftennis.com/media/2148/nutrition-supplements.pdf

Dietary supplements may be used to provide the body with extra fuel before, during, and after training. However, supplements should be regarded with caution, for several reasons. Not only are the long-term physiological effects of many dietary supplements not fully understood, but the supplement industry is largely unregulated, and so they are not subject to the manufacturing rigour that occurs in the food industry. As such, there is no guarantee that the ingredients list on any supplement is accurate. Some supplements contain ingredients that are not listed on the label, or in different amounts than stated on the label. As such, there is no way to guarantee the safety and/or purity of these products.

Many athletes have produced positive doping tests as a result of ingesting supplements, including in tennis. Under the strict liability principle adopted by the WADA Code (and so the Tennis AntiDoping Programme), athletes are responsible for any substance found in samples produced by them, and so a contaminated supplement will not excuse a positive doping test.

As such, the ITF does not recommend any supplement. Any player who consumes a dietary supplement does so at their own risk. Players who consume supplements may be subject to sanctions under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

 

[Winner Sinner]

The general director of Wada Olivier Niggli, interviewed by the French newspaper L'Équipe on Swiatek and Sinner, opened a potentially very useful scenario in evaluating the blue's case. In fact, he says: "Today there is a problem of contamination. This does not mean that there are more cases of this kind than in the past, the fact is that laboratories are more efficient in detecting even infinitesimal quantities of substances." In short, technological progress paradoxically risks becoming counterproductive if certain rules are not modified by adapting them to new specificities.
But Niggli goes further: "The quantities are so small that you can get contaminated by doing harmless things. The truth is that we hear a lot of stories and I understand public opinion that can come to think that we take in everything." A lot of stories like the one that led to Sinner's positivity and which are worth remembering: the detection of Clostebol is due to the massages carried out shortly before Indian Wells by his now former physiotherapist Naldi who had previously taken Trofodermin (spray which contains the prohibited substance) purchased in Italy by the former athletic trainer Ferrara to treat a cut on the little finger of his left hand. A series of circumstances that Sinner could not have known about and, as mentioned, no one has any doubts about his good faith. The d.g. of the World Anti-Doping Agency then opens up to a solution that could prove decisive in the CAS's judgment on Jannik: "With thresholds we would not have seen all these cases. What we need to understand is whether we are ready to accept microdosing and where it is right to stop. Precisely for this type of reflection a working table will be created." A table which should therefore - in light of the analyzes of the quantities found in the cases of recent years and obviously making distinctions based on the substance - define those as the limit quantities.

UNIFORMITY'-

Having "tolerance" thresholds would also be decidedly useful to give new uniformity to cases which in the past, given similar quantities, had different outcomes. Let's start with Sinner. We still don't know the ending, but we know the quantity of Clostebol well: in the sample of March 10, 2024, 86 pg/mL of metabolites were detected, an infinitesimal quantity; in that of March 18, 76 pg/mL. Let's now take two other cases of doping for the same substance. Riccardo Moraschini, a basketball player at the time at Armani today in Cantù, tested positive in an anti-doping test carried out on 6 October 2021. Clostebol detectable due to contact with his girlfriend who used the healing spray: very low value - but higher than that of Sinner - i.e. 500 pg/ml. He renounces the counter-analysis, is heard in December and sanctioned at the beginning of January with a one-year disqualification. The National Anti-Doping Tribunal does not consider the player's act to be aimed at altering sporting performance, but confirms the disqualification because the appeal had been submitted to the wrong section. Then there is the case of Atalanta defender Palomino: on 26 July 2022 he was suspended due to the usual Clostebol positivity: 800 pg/ml. Testing positive again (on 12 August), he reiterates the thesis of accidental and involuntary intake due to contact with the dog sitter who treated his dog Lollo with the spray.
The anti-doping prosecutor asks for a 2-year ban, but on November 7 the TNA excludes the player's responsibility and acquits him. Nado Italia appeals to the CAS but also in Lausanne they agree with Palomino. The last case of very low values is that of Iga Swiatek: less than 50 pg/ml of Trimetazidine detected. At the moment he has agreed to a suspension for one month. Thresholds would solve everything.

 

[Bartelby]

Who is going to pay for establishing the thresholds for particular drugs? WADA doesn't have the money and doesn't do the research.

 

[tennis4me]

This is the rest of the official company's response.

Source: https://www.lekam.pl/pl/centrum-prasowe/aktualnosci/1362

We kindly inform that ITIA did not contact us directly.

We were contacted by a law firm from the UK which, however, did not indicate for whom it works. The representative of the law firm expected us to violate the Polish pharmaceutical law [Art. 36 g (1) (10) of the Pharmaceutical Law Act, Journal of Laws 2024.686] especially with regard to sending medications to unauthorized persons.

This rasied [sic] our distrust and the lack of our response. From today's perspective, we would have initiated contact.

Not clear what the "sending medications to unauthorized persons" is about. The law firm wanted a sample??

 

[LOBALOT]

The Polish manufacturer said that any levels of TMZ found were fall below the acceptable level and that the public was never at risk of harm.
It raises the question of whether an insignificant manufacturing defect should trigger a doping violation.

Of course TMZ is the place you get your news.

 

[LOBALOT]

Not when we have dozens of fans to believe their fake, made-up stories.

That is why stories made up or otherwise shouldn't be part of the decision making.

 

[Kerouac]

It is completely false to say that Sharapova deliberately cheated. She was exonerated of this charge and yet still got 15 months for unintentional doping.

Unintentional? She took it for ten years lol

 

[Kerouac]

The tennis media are very sympathetic towards Swiatek and Sinner and are really pushing the contamination crap and they've suffered enough nonsense. The only one they went to town on was Odesnik. Compare that to how the cycling and athletics media would react in this situation.

It's sad that Kyrgios seems to be the only player who cares about clean sport, probably the only one who's not doping.

 

[Kerouac]

Yes sure it is. To me, Swiatek has always looked a little bit a shady character and her story looks very suspicious too. Particularly, it's weird to hear that melatonin pills are contaminated with what? doping. What kind of pharma company are we talking about, not even an African company would do such a colossal procedural failures.
Finally Swiatek is the kind of physical player who could benefit enormously from doping, as her game is based on basically overpowering her opponents. Not so much Sinner IMHO who has a technical rather than physical edge.

Yes, thought a couple of years ago that she looked a blatant juicer. And then there's the epo positive rumours too.

Interestingly, we have two players who came from nowhere to suddenly dominate, both test positive in the same year they win a slam and both conveniently are accidentally contaminated with PEDs by a mistake in the factory. Yeah right.... Who is buying this crap?