In November 2019 the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) reported an anti-doping rule violation against the 80 year old cyclist Barbara Gicquel after her sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Methyltestosterone related to the prescribed medication Estratest she used.
The Athlete was already notified in September 2019 that she tested positive and made a TUE application in October 2019 and a revised TUE application in March 2020 which were all denied by USADA herafter.
On 15 April 2020 the Athlete and USADA reached a Sanction Agreement under which the Athlete accepted a 1 year period of ineligibility and disqualification of her results from 29 August 2019.
The Sole Arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association was requested to determine to which extend the disqualification should be applied retroactively or whether previous results, prizes, medals and records should be forfeited since the parties could not agree on this matter.
USADA sought the disqualification of the Athlete's results from 19 November 2009 while the Athlete asserted that additional disqualifications are not permitted and that the principle of fairness should be applied.
The senior Athlete competed in cycling events since 1997 and started using the prescribed medication Estratest in 2005 as treatment for her diagnosed condition. When tested in August 2019 she listed many medications and supplements but did not mention the medication Estratest on the Doping Control Form.
Based on the written submissions of the parties the Sole Arbitrator holds that the Athlete had used the prescribed medication since 2005 and for the first decade she was unware that this medication contained a prohibited substance. She was tested behore without issues while using her medication until 2019.
Furthermore sometime in 2015 the Athlete learned that her medication contained Methyltestosterone and that this substance was prohibited. She failed to mention this medication on the Doping Control Form during the next 4 years, nor did she apply for a TUE. The Sole Arbitrator finds that the lack of transparency regarding the medication she used tips the balance of fairness in this matter.
Therefore on 11 August 2020 the Sole Arbitrator concludes that the fair sanction is to disqualify the Athlete's results from the date of the sample collection, i.e. 29 August 2019. Since the Athlete learned sometime in 2015 that her medication contained a prohibited substance the Sole Arbitrator deemed it appropriate to also disqualify her results from 29 August 2015.
