Positive Drug Tests

Two in one week for the United States? First there was University of Missouri distance swimmer Max Jaben. Jaben, an American who holds dual citizenship, was preparing to represent Israel in Beijing but was thrown off of the Israeli Olympic Team for testing positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone. Jaben has appealed to an international sport arbitration court for a penalty less than the normal 2 year ban from competition.

Then reports (unconfirmed by USA Swimming) came out yesterday that Jessica Hardy, winner of the 100 Breaststroke and runner-up in the 50 Free at the US Olympic Team Trials, has tested positive for a banned stimulant. Swimming World Magazine has a thorough article on the situation here. As of right now, neither USA Swimming nor Hardy have officially commented on the situation. However Hardy's agent has made comments indicating there has been a positive test by his client, but that Hardy denies any wrongdoing. The reports from swimmingworldmagazine.com and the Associated Press indicate that Hardy has left the US Olympic Team training camp. One can only wonder the reasoning for these positive tests. Jaben has indicated that he has "alternative theories" for his failed test and Hardy's lawyer has expressed concerns about the possibility of Jessica's tests coming back clean for certain events at Trials, but one came back positive.

Two cases involving US Swimmers in the past decade served to bring different issues regarding illegal substances and performance enhancement to the forefront for our sport. The biggest one was the case of Jessica Foschi who tested positive for a banned substance at the age of 15. Foschi's case was examined by USA Swimming, FINA, and other International Sports Arbitration Courts. She was punished, had the punishment overturned, punished again...on and on for a number of years. Here is a link to various stories about the Foschi case from the New York Times.

The second case is that of Kicker Vencill. A sprinter, Vencill was training toward the 2004 Olympic Trials when, in 2003, he tested positive for a banned substance and was banned from competition for four years. Vencill appealed his suspension and was able to prove the banned substance was due to a supply of contaminated vitamins he had purchased. Regardless of the fact that he did not knowingly ingest the banned substance, he was still responsible for it and was given a two year suspension, ending his chances of realizing his Olympic dreams. Vencill sued the company that produced the contaminated vitamins and in 2005 was awarded a $500,000 settlement. Here is a link to Kicker's "20 Question Tuesday" interview from usaswimming.com.

I'd like to say only time will tell what the truth behind the Hardy and Jaben situations is. But when it comes to illegal substances and performances enhancers in sport the truth rarely comes out. For every athlete like Andy Pettite who gets caught and comes clean there are many, many Floyd Landis' who get caught red handed and still profess their innocence regardless of the evidence against them. Unfortunately there are the situations like that of Kicker Vencill, innocent and hard-working athletes who are thrown in with the rest of the cheaters through no fault of their own. Even more unfortunate is the fact that very few positive drug tests reported in the news turn out to be incorrect, but it does happen. I guess time will really only tell which of these four categories Hardy and Jaben fall into.