Sports Desk
Australian freestyler Shayna Jack heads to the Paris Olympics seeking redemption after her world was rocked by a contested doping ban that left her deeply depressed and unsure whether she would swim again. While Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan are the big names in Australia's powerhouse swimming squad, Jack's journey "through hell" to make the grade is compelling.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in her sights, her world came crashing down after testing positive for the muscle growth agent ligandrol in an out-of-competition test in June 2019. She was banned for four years despite proclaiming her innocence, insisting the substance entered her system by contamination. "I won't stop until I clear my name," she vowed. Her case has similarities to the Chinese doping scandal that blew up in the sport this year.
In that instance, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the prescription heart drug trimetazidine before the Tokyo Games, but they escaped suspension or sanction.
Instead, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the explanation of Chinese authorities that the results were caused by food contamination. The case was revealed by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD in April. An independent report this month said that WADA had not shown "favouritism" towards China and the International Olympic Committee expressed its "full confidence" in the anti-doping body ahead of the Paris Games, which begin next week. Jack is yet to address the issue and how it compares to her treatment, not wanting it to impact her Olympic preparations. "To be honest, I've tried to put it on the back burner for now," the 25-year-old told reporters at the Australian trials in Brisbane of the Chinese scandal. "But I'll definitely be commenting on it after the Olympics." Ahead of the Covid-delayed Japan Olympics, the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport concluded that "on the balance of probabilities" Jack "did not intentionally ingest ligandrol". It reduced her ban to two years, but by then it was too late and she missed out on her childhood dream of becoming an Olympian.
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