Originally published at: Imogen Simmonds Provisionally Suspended for Anti-Doping Rule Violation - Slowtwitch News
This article has been updated to include the statement from the ITA.
Imogen Simmonds, the fourth place finisher at this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, has been provisionally suspended for an anti-doping rule violation.
Simmonds was tested out-of-competition on December 8th, a little under a week before her fourth place at 70.3 Worlds in Taupō, New Zealand. Simmonds tested positive for a metabolite of ligandrol. 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.
The International Testing Agency (ITA), which handles both testing and results management for IRONMAN, confirmed that both Simmonds’ A and B samples were positive for SARMS LGD-4033 (ligandrol) metabolite Dihydroxy-LGD-4033.
In a statement, the ITA said, “The ITA confirms that a sample collected from Swiss triathlete Imogen Carlina Simmonds during an out-of-competition anti-doping control on 8 December 2024 has returned an adverse analytical finding for SARMS LGD-4033 (ligandrol) metabolite dihydroxy-LGD-4033, a non-specified substance prohibited at all times.”
“The athlete now has the opportunity to present her explanations for the result.”
“In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and Article 7.4.1 of the IRONMAN Anti-Doping Rules, the athlete is under provisional suspension. The athlete has the right to challenge the provisional suspension and ask for its lifting.”
Simmonds, in a statement posted to Instagram, denies intentionally taking the substance. Instead, she alleges that ligandrol entered her system “via the transfer of bodily fluid.”
“Through investigation and research, it was discovered that…my longtime partner had been ingesting ligandrol to help improve his own personal physique around the time of the positive test.”
“…considering 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 my…doping control test – my legal team and I have concluded that this substance got into my system via the transfer of bodily fluid.”
Neither IRONMAN nor the International Testing Agency, IRONMAN’s testing and results management partner, have commented on the case.
It is not the first time that a female athlete has tested positive for ligandrol or its metabolites and stated that it was the result of bodily fluid exchange. Sprint canoeist Laurence Vincent Lapointe was suspended in 2019 for testing positive for ligandrol. After a lengthy investigation, the International Canoe Federation accepted Lapointe’s evidence that her ex-boyfriend had ingested ligandrol, her test result was due to bodily fluid exchange, and rescinded the suspension.
Curler Briane Harris was suspended in March 2024 for four years after both her A and B sample were positive for ligandrol. Harris won her appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing unknown ingestion due to bodily contact with her husband, returning to sport earlier this year.
