Former Olympic champion Cate Campbell has revealed a worrying conversation she had with banned teammate Shayna Jack.
Jack's bid to clear her name when she was suspended from swimming for four years after testing positive to the illegal substance ligandrol in July 2019 was detailed by ABC's Australian Story.
Jack's fight against the ruling has cost her more than $130,000 in fees, but Campbell revealed the case almost cost the star a lot more.
"I've been very upset by this whole thing by how Shayna has been treated," she began. "She said, 'Cate, I'm so lucky that I'm not the type of person who particularly cares what people say about me, because if I did, I wouldn't be alive right now'," Campbell said.
"I have received a bit of backlash for supporting Shayna. However, I believe that it's the right thing to do. What really scares me about this situation is that I believe it could have happened to me. This case has made me aware that it is possible for contamination to occur. I can support Shayna Jack and I can still have a zero tolerance for drugs in sport — both of those things are possible."
Jack said hair testing after the initial positive result showed there was no long term use. She claims there was only trace amounts of drugs in her system.
"The expert that Sports Integrity had found, had stated the amount found in my system was pharmaceutically irrelevant, meaning it had zero effect on my body," Jack said.
"It didn't help me increase muscle mass. It didn't help me swim faster. It didn't help me recover. It did nothing.
"The expert report said that it had come into contact with my body within two days of my test, which places me in Cairns on the Swimming Australia camp. Therefore, the flight, the baggage claim, the hotel I stayed in, the food that I was given that night, the pool and the gym — and the public toilets. I was able to say, 'These are possibilities.' I cannot prove that this is where it happened. But I can say in those two days, these are the only things I did differently."
US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, the man who brought down disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, claims Jack's case should send a message to athletes and sports oganisations.
"The only question is going to be how many innocent athletes are railroaded before the rules finally change," he said. "People need to know about the injustice.
"What struck me about the Jack case, no performance benefit, no intent, not even reckless, did everything she could to abide by the rules. But yet she's branded a drug cheat and given a two-year suspension and lucky not to get a four-year. That's just an inherently unjust system."
Tygart said that there have been several cases with low level positives caused by meat contamination, supplement contamination and even sex.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
No comments:
Post a Comment