The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has suspended 56-year old masters track athlete Lizbeth “Liz” Palmer for 3-1/2 years after she tested positive for anabolic steroids during an in-competition doping control collected on March 5, 2016.
Palmer has been called the “fastest female sprinter over the age of 50 in human history” after setting American and World records in her age category. Palmer set the American record with a time of 9.32 seconds in the W50 age group 60-meter hurdles at the USATF Mid America Masters Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She also shares an American record with a time of 59.20 in the W50 age group 320-meter shuttle hurdle relay set at the 2012 Masters Outdoor Championships in Lisle, Illinois. Palmer set the world record in the W50 60-meter dash with a time of 7.86 seconds at the 2011 U.S. Masters National Championships in Albuquerque.
Palmer tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of Dianabol (methandienone) known as 17β-hydroxymethyl-17α-methyl-18-norandrost-1,4,13-trien-3-one at the 2016 USA Track & Field (USATF) Masters Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Palmer placed 2nd in the W55 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.82 and 2nd place in the W55 60-meter dash with a time of 8.50.
USADA granted Palmer a reduction in her suspension. The penalty for a first-time anti-doping violation is 4 years. The penalty can be reduced under certain circumstances. For example, USADA granted a reduction of 6 months based on Palmer’s “prompt admission of the violation”.
However, Palmer did not admit knowingly using methandienone. She blamed the steroid positive on a contaminated dietary supplement. Palmer did not reveal the name of the company that manufactured or distributed the product. She did allege that the same company was linked to supplement contamination resulting in steroid positives for a mysterious U.S. bobsledder and NFL player.
USADA purchased the same supplement Palmer blamed for her steroid positive and submitted it for laboratory analysis. The lab results did not show any type of methandienone-related contamination.
In a statement published on masterstrack.com, Palmer also provided a couple of dubious reasons why it would have been impossible for her to use Dianabol.
First of all, Palmer claimed she would never do anything to increase her risk of breast cancer. And since Dianabol can aromatize into estradiol, Palmer believed Dianabol would promote breast cancer. Palmer argued that she would never compromise her health to win a medal.
“To find that I tested positive for a health-adverse banned substance when in the past I had purposely avoided taking beneficial risk-reduction breast cancer medications (due to them being banned) is irony beyond belief.”
Unfortunately, Palmer unknowingly contradicted herself. While Palmer would never take a drug that could be harmful to her health (increased breast cancer risk) just to win a race, she had no objections to avoiding a drug (possibly Nolvadex or Arimidex) that could be beneficial to her health (reduced breast cancer risk). Her admission that she would compromise her health in the latter scenario makes it clear that her health is a secondary concern to track competition and undermines her argument.
“I would never knowingly take a substance that would compromise my health and femininity, and I had no changes in my appearance or in the results of my regularly scheduled blood tests that would have tipped me off that something was amiss. I was also worried sick about the possibility that I may have increased my breast cancer chances due to the aromatizing effects of Dianabol.”
Secondly, Palmer argued that if she had knowingly used Dianabol, she would have had to have started her Dbol cycle in November 2015 so that she could taper its use and go undetected fro the Masters Indoor Championships in March 2016. Since she had foot surgery in November and was confined to a walking boot and brace for six weeks, it would have made no sense for her to use steroids during this period.
“To follow a typical cycle, I would have needed to start my deliberate doping approximately one week after my foot surgery in November, continue it while I was in a walking boot or a brace for the next six weeks, keep doping while I was in physical therapy and unable to sprint or train until the second week of January, and then stop right at that time in order to give the Dianabol the necessary 6-7 weeks clearance time before any testing.”
Of course, the fact that Palmer was in a walking boot in the fall of 2015 doesn’t preclude her from taking PEDs at any time before her meet in March 2016.