Para marathon athlete suspended for anti-doping rule violation

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended Colombian Para marathon athlete Francisco Sanclemente for thirteen months after he committed a non-intentional anti-doping rule violation (ADRV).

The athlete returned an adverse analytical finding for a prohibited substance in a urine sample provided during an in-competition test on 29 September 2019 after competing at the 2019 Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany.

The athlete’s sample contained metabolites of the prohibited substance sibutramine. Sibutramine is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List under the class S6b – Specified Stimulants and is prohibited in-competition.

Following analysis of the evidence presented by the athlete and the WADA-accredited laboratories in Dresden and Utah, the IPC was satisfied that the ADRV was unintentional, without significant fault or negligence on the part of the athlete, and that the source of the prohibited substance was the athlete’s prior out-of-competition consumption of a contaminated weight-loss supplement which did not list sibutramine among its ingredients. The IPC accepted that the athlete neither consumed sibutramine in competition, nor in order to enhance his sporting performance.

As a result of his violation, the athlete is deemed ineligible for competition for 13 months from the date of the test to 28 October 2020. All his results obtained from 29 September 2019 through to the start of his Provisional Suspension (25 November 2019) are disqualified, including forfeiture of any medals, points, records and prizes. This includes his results from the 2019 Chicago Marathon and 2019 New York Marathon.

Each athlete is strictly liable for the substances found in his or her sample. An anti-doping rule violation occurs whenever a prohibited substance (or its metabolites or markers) is found in his or her bodily specimen, whether or not the athlete intentionally or unintentionally used a prohibited substance or was negligent or otherwise at fault.

As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), the IPC remains committed to a doping-free sporting environment at all levels. The IPC, together with the International Federations and the National Paralympic Committees, established the IPC Anti-Doping Code to prevent doping in sport for Paralympic athletes, in the spirit of fair play. The IPC Anti-Doping Code is in conformity with the general principles of the WADC.