The world’s #2-ranked tennis participant Iga Świątek has been given a 1-month ban for trimetazidine (TMZ), the identical substance that 23 Chinese language swimmers examined constructive for within the leadup to the 2021 Olympic Video games.
Świątek, 23, failed an out-of-competition drug check in August. On Wednesday, she admitted the anti-doping guidelines violation and accepted the sanction. The ITIA accepted her clarification that the check was attributable to contaminated nonprescription melatonin that she was taking for points with jet lag and sleeping.
The ITIA mentioned that her fault was “on the lowest finish of the vary for no significance fault or negligence.”
The suspension solely has eight days remaining; she was provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4 and missed three tournaments, and she or he will likely be cleared to return to play on Monday. She additionally forfeits $158,944 in earnings from the Cincinnati Open, the place she misplaced within the semifinals in her first event after failing the check.
“Within the final 2½ months, I used to be topic to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence,” Swiatek mentioned in a social media publish.. “The one constructive doping check in my profession, exhibiting unbelievably low stage of a banned substance I’ve by no means heard about earlier than, put the whole lot I’ve labored so onerous for my total life into query.
“Each me and my workforce needed to cope with great stress and nervousness. Now the whole lot has been rigorously defined, and with a clear slate I can return to what I like most.”
TMZ was accountable for 23 Chinese language swimmers testing constructive within the run-up to the 2021 Olympics, which didn’t grow to be public data till earlier this 12 months. The athletes have been let off with out sanctions after Chinese language directors blamed contaminated meals.
That led to an escalating international disagreement between doping directors within the U.S. and the World Anti-Doping Affiliation, with the latter threatening to drag accreditation from the U.S.
The melatonin drugs she took have been manufactured and offered in her native Poland. Trimetazidine is extensively out there for prescription in lots of nations, together with Poland, although it isn’t prescribed in others, just like the U.S.
Whereas Świątek’s constructive check has drawn many comparisons to the case of the Chinese language swimmers, there are a few key variations. One is that Świątek was provisionally suspended after the check, and finally given a punishment, which the Chinese language athletes weren’t. The opposite is that Świątek was in a position to present a batch of drugs for testing to a laboratory outdoors of her dwelling nation, particularly the WADA-accredited SMRTL in Utah, USA, with unbiased verification from a distinct laboratory.
WADA, in the meantime, relied on CHINADA inside investigations that turned up TMZ contamination on spice containers, drains, and an exhaust fan, and relied on supporting circumstantial proof (like a bunch of swimmers staying at one other resort) to help the findings.
The substance can be the one which led to the primary doping suspension of Chinese language Olympic gold medalist Solar Yang, although he mentioned that he was supplied the substance by his physician.
Świątek received bronze in singles on the 2024 Olympics. She is a four-time French Open Champion and one-time U.S. Open Champion.
