Originally published at: Imogen Simmonds Agrees to No Fault Finding for Positive Test; Free to Compete - Slowtwitch News
Imogen Simmonds, who had been provisionally suspended by the International Testing Agency (ITA) after testing positive for ligandrol metabolites in December 2024, has accepted a finding of no fault for that positive test, according to a release from the ITA.
That means that the Swiss athlete is no longer suspended, and may compete as early as this weekend.
Simmonds wrote on Instagram, āIt feels as if I have spent the past 9 months being haunted by this ordeal, and Iām finally able to breathe again.ā
Ligandrol is a banned substance at all times by the WADA Code. Ligandrol is a selective androgen receptive modulator (SARM), and primarily used in a medical setting to prevent muscle wasting in hip fracture patients. It is also known to improve lean muscle mass. Ligandrol has been a prohibited substance under the WADA Code for nearly a decade as an other anabolic agent.
When announcing the suspension, Simmonds had raised the defense that her partner had been taking substances containing ligandrol for his own physique, and that āconsidering the timeline of events: specifically, that I had a negative doping control test six days earlier and 22 days after, and that my partner and I engaged in intimate relations both the day of and day before myā¦doping control test ā my legal team and I have concluded that this substance got into my system via the transfer of bodily fluid.ā
The ITA accepted that defense, writing that, āOver the course of the results management proceedings, the athlete was able to establish that the presence of ligandrol in her sample was due to inadvertent contamination through intimate contact with her partner who was taking supplements containing the prohibited substance without her knowledge.ā
Ultimately, this led the ITA to offer a finding of no fault or negligence. According to the WADA Code, a finding of āNo Fault or Negligenceā is defined as āThe Athlete or other Personās establishing that he or she did not know or suspect, and could not reasonably have known or suspected even with the exercise of utmost caution, that he or she had Used or been administered the Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method or otherwise violated an anti-doping rule.ā
Because the test was taken out of competition, there were no results to disqualify. According to the ITA, both it and IRONMAN consider the matter closed.
Simmonds, in her Instagram post today, wrote that, āI hope that my story can serve as a warning and education for other athletes out there. I wouldnāt wish my experience over the past 9 months on anyone. Yet I fear that given the increased presence of artificial compounds (such as SARMS) in society and numerous other factors that can lead to unexpected ways of transmission, every single athlete is at risk of contamination, in some form.ā
āI urge the ITA to make the process for athletes fighting to prove their innocence as transparent and streamlined as possible; athletes have a right to protect themselves, their reputations and their careers.