USADA accepted the explanation that the prohibited substances found their way into Ginny Fuchs’ body via sexual transmission.
Virginia “Ginny” Fuchs, an American flyweight boxer who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has been exonerated for intentional doping by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). USADA determined that the prohibited substances letrozole and GW1516 were “ingested by her without fault or negligence”.
The USADA investigation concluded that Fuch’s boyfriend was responsibility for inseminating her with the banned drugs through unprotected sexual contact.
“I am just relieved that USADA saw my case [as] very unique,” Fuchs told FOX26 sports writer Mark Berman, “and gave me a no fault and have cleared me and allowed me to continue my career immediately and I had no idea that you could get contaminated through intimate contact.”
USADA has accepted inadvertent doping via sexual transmission as a legitimate defense for future athletes who fail drug tests.
The USADA press release did not specify exactly what type of sexual contact resulted in the introduction of prohibited drugs. It is not known whether the contamination resulted from vaginal intercourse, fellatio, etc.
The extremely low levels of letrozole and GW1515 in Fuch’s sample were consistent with inadvertent transmission via sexual contact according to USADA. This finding prompted a more thorough investigation by USADA.
USADA obtained samples of the “supplements” used by Fuch’s boyfriend around the time of the failed drug test. A WADA-accredited laboratory confirmed the presence of letrozole and GW1516 in those product samples.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) does not accept transmission as an exculpatory explanation for a failed drug test. However, USADA has promised to defend Fuchs and other athletes who ingest banned drugs via sexual transmission against any type of sanctions.
“While the World Anti-Doping Code requires that this no fault finding be considered a violation and be publicly announced, we strongly believe this case and others like it, including meat contamination and prescription medication contamination cases, should be considered no violation,” said USADA CEO Travis Tygart. “We will continue to advocate for changes to the World Anti-Doping Code so that where there is no intent to cheat and no performance benefit, an athlete should not face any violation or unnecessary public attention.”
The disagreement between USADA and WADA could set the stage for a future showdown at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Who would have thought that USADA would come to the defense of “clean athletes” who want the freedom to have unprotected sex with athletes who use anabolic steroids and/or other prohibited performance-enhancing drugs?
USADA told Houston Olympic boxer @GinnyFuchsUSA,who tested positive for prohibited substance,was determined to have been ingested by her(unprotected sex)without fault or negligence&won’t face ineligibility.USA Boxing told Fuchs the USADA sanction of”No Fault”is the proper outcome pic.twitter.com/ez0gkS7fah
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 11, 2020