US Olympian Gil Roberts, who won a gold medal in Rio, almost received a doping violation because a prohibited substance was found in his system, which was later found to be a result of kissing his girlfriend.
In the highly unusual case, the runner’s urine sample was tested positive for a low level of probenecid, an illegal diuretic and masking agent during an out-of-competition test in March by the US Anti-Doping Agency. However, he won’t be sanctioned because the substance was likely the result of kissing his girlfriend, who was consuming the said drug, according to a report in Runners World.
As it turns out, his girlfriend suffered from a sinus infection and received medication from a chemist in India, which she continued using in USA. She consumed the capsule powder instead of swallowing them, which would explain the transfer of the substance, elaborated the report.
But since the substance entered his system accidentally and without his knowledge, he wasn’t suspended nor will his competition results be affected. According to the USADA release, an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association determined that Roberts “ingested a prohibited substance without fault or negligence and is therefore immediately eligible to compete.”
Probenecid is on the prohibited substance list because it can prevent the detection of other performance-enhancing drugs, like steroids. It is on the banned list of the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.
Roberts, 28, will represent USA in the 400 meters at the IAAF World Championships at London in August.
However, bizarre as it seems, Roberts is not the first athlete to be caught in a doping fix over a seemingly innocent kiss. French tennis player Richard Gasquet was let off over positive cocaine test back in 2009, because it was found that the substance entered his system after kissing a woman who had taken cocaine at a nightclub, according to this Guardian report. The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended his two-year ban as “had not committed any fault or negligence within the meaning of the ITF Anti-Doping Programme.”
In 2016, Canadian pole vault world champion Shawn Barber was allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics despite testing positive for cocaine after he successfully argued that the drug had been passed on through kissing, according to this report by The Independent. An independent arbitrator determined “no fault or negligence” as it was found that he inadvertently ingested the substance when kissing a woman he met on the internet.
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