icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
28 Jan, 2020 10:58

Canadian canoeing champion cleared of doping charges after proving SEX was behind failed test

Canadian canoeing champion cleared of doping charges after proving SEX was behind failed test

Canadian 11-time world champion canoeist Laurence Vincent Lapointe has been cleared of doping charges after it was determined that a banned substance entered her body through sex with her ex-boyfriend.

The 27-year-old athlete, who failed a drug test on the eve of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) Canoe Sprint World Championships last July, faced a four-year ban and the prospect of missing this summer’s Olympics in Japan if found guilty.

READ MORE: ‘That killed all my dates after that’: 37-year-old US athlete Lolo Jones says being open about virginity was a mistake

However, the Canadian champion managed to avoid the harsh punishment after persuading a tribunal that traces of steroid-like substance ligandrol detected in her system were a result of bodily fluid contamination from her ex-boyfriend.

"It's pretty incredible," Vincent Lapointe's lawyer Adam Klevinas said at a news conference. "It took months to get results, and then at the end, we got the idea to analyze the hair of her ex and to test a product he finally admitted to taking."

The ICF, which investigated the case, accepted the evidence presented by the renowned canoeist, allowing her to return to action with no sanctions imposed.

"After taking into consideration scientific expert evidence provided by Ms Vincent Lapointe's legal team, and also the minuscule traces of ligandrol found in the athlete's sample, the ICF has accepted that Ms Vincent Lapointe did not knowingly take the illegal substance," the ICF said.

Also on rt.com 'Saddest moment of my life': Doubles world no.1 blames contaminated meat for failed doping test as he misses Australian Open

"The ICF has accepted Ms Vincent Lapointe's evidence, which supports that she was the victim of third-party contamination, and has cleared her to return to training and competition immediately."

The verdict, however, can be challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if it disagrees with the ICF ruling.

Podcasts
0:00
26:13
0:00
24:57