Australian swimmer Shayna Jack has seen her doping ban reduced to two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said she didn’t take a banned substance intentionally.
The 22-year-old freestyler was initially suspended for four years after testing positive to the anabolic agent Ligandrol in June 2019, and pulled out of the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships days before it started.
Jack insisted on her innocence and appealed to the CAS, which handed down its decision late Monday.
“The Sole Arbitrator in charge of this matter found, on the balance of probabilities, that Shayna Jack did not intentionally ingest ligandrol and considered that she had discharged her onus of proving that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional,” the CAS said in a statement.
“As a consequence, the Sole Arbitrator imposed a reduced period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on the date of her provisional suspension.”
Jack’s doping ban will end in July 2021, however, she will miss the selection process for the postponed Tokyo Olympics scheduled to start in late July.
Still, the athlete said she accepted the decision with a positive attitude and vowed to return to swimming next year.
“I cannot change the rules and the rules will remain as they are for the time being. Therefore, I accept this decision with a positive attitude and with gratitude that my career as a swimmer will resume next year,” Jack said in a social media post on Instagram Swimming Australia also welcomed the outcome and said it would continue to offer Shayna support during the process. “We have a zero tolerance approach to doping and always will – this is our responsibility. However, this does not mean that we cannot demonstrate care and empathy for young people who are thrust into a complex system that can be overwhelming, often confusing and confronting,” Swimming Australia said in a statement on Tuesday.
