Respondent Alexandra Klineman is 23 year old volleyball player and member of USA Volleyball.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against Respondent after her three out-of-competition samples (provided on 22 May, 19 June and 26 June 2013) tested positive for the prohibited substance dehydroepiandrosteron (DHEA).
USADA notified Respondent of the doping violation and ordered a provisional suspension. The Athlete filed a statement in her defence and she was heard for the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport Panel on 13 November 2013.
Respondent stated that her positive results were from the inadvertent ingestion of her mother’s DHEA supplement and she had no intention to enhance her sport performance.
The Panel concludes that the Respondent is an innocent athlete who tested positive by accident and did everything humanly possible to provide USADA with all the information required regarding her positive test.
The North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (NACAS) l therefore decides:
1.) Respondent has committed her first doping violation under the 2009 version of the WADA Code.
2.) Respondent has sustained her burden of proof under the WADA Code. Therefore the Panel imposes a period of ineligibility starting from the date of the sample collection of her first positive test on 22 May 2013 and continuing through 9 June 2014, a period spanning thirteen months.
3.) The parties shall bear their own attorney's fees and costs associated with this arbitration.
4.) The administrative fees and expenses of the American Arbitration Association, and the compensation and expenses of the arbitrators and the Panel, shall be borne entirely by USADA and the United States Olympic Committee.
