In January 2023 the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), on behalf of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), reported an anti-doping rule violation against the American tennis player Sydney Dorcil after her A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance Boldenone in a high concentration.
Following notification a provisional suspension was ordered. The Athlete filed a statement in her defence and she was heard for the ITF Independent Tribunal.
The Athlete admitted the violation and denied the intentional use of the substance. She asserted that she acted carefully with her supplements and medication she used.
The Athlete believed that the Boldenone entered her system through a contaminated B12 plus lipotropics injection that she received at a Lab in October 2022. She looked at all the ingredients before receiving the injection to assure herself that it did not contain any prohibited substances.
The Athlete ruled out meat contamination and contamination of her supplements and self-medication. The injection had to be the source.
The ITIA contended that the Athlete failed to establish with sufficient and corroborating evidence that a contaminated B12 injection was the source of the positive tests. It deemed that the filed evidence only shows that some veterinary medicines were compounded by the supplier in question, not that Boldenone was on the premises, nor that they had manufactured B12 injections.
In this case the Panel assessed and addressed the evidence and assertions of the Parties and their expert witnesses. Ultimately the Panel concludes that the Athlete failed to demonstrate that the violation was not intentional.
Further the Panel deems that the Athlete failed to meet the burden of establishing the source of the prohibited substance. The Panel holds that the Athlete was not a credible witness due to the inconsistencies between her evidence orally and in her statements.
Therefore the Panel decides on 6 July 2023 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete, starting on the date of the provisional suspension, i.e. on 13 January 2023.
