The women’s long jump is not an event that most people usually associate with rampant anabolic steroid use.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has caught five athletes with anabolic steroids in their systems during the Women’s Long Jump competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Only one of the steroid users was caught during the London Olympics. The rest were caught after subsequent retesting of stored urine samples uncovered traces of anabolic steroids.
Ineta Radevica (Latvia) officially tested positive for traces of oxandrolone (Anavar) during IOC retesting announced on May 10, 2019. Radevica placed fourth in the event. Radevica was provisionally suspended in November 2018.
The IOC first retested stored samples from competitors in the London Olympics women’s long jump in November 2016. Nastassia Myronchyk-Ivanova (Belarus) and Marhayta Tverdohlib (Ukraine) were caught during this round of retesting.
Myronchyk-Ivanova tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (Oral Turinabol). She was retroactively disqualified after originally placing seventh at the London Olympics.
Marhayta Tverdohlib (Ukraine) tested positive for Oral Turinabol and stanozolol (Winstrol). She did not qualify for the long jump finals at the London Olympics.
The IOC caught Anna Nazarova (Russia) during a round of retesting conducted in November 2017. Nazarova tested positive for traces of Oral Turinabol. She was retroactively disqualified after originally placing fifth.
The IOC was only able to catch Karin Mey Melis (Turkey) during the actual London Olympics in August 2012. Melis tested positive for the presence of exogenous testosterone.
While four of the 12 London Olympic long jump women’s finalists have ended up being steroid users, all three medalists have been able to keep their medals.
The London Olympics women’s long jump was won by Brittney Reese (United States). Yelena Sokolova (Russia) placed second and Janay DeLoach (United States) placed third. Their stored samples have presumably already been tested. And they have presumably been cleared.
The women’s long jump is not an event that is typically associated with rampant steroid use. For example, Radevica did “look” like a steroid user. She was featured as a Playboy “Women of the Olympics” model due to her athletic femininity.
The multiple long jump competitors ensnared by the IOC retesting program suggests that steroid use is far more common among women athletes than most people think.