An investigation into disciplinary decisions by the Agence française de lutte contre le dopage (AFLD) has revealed that at least three athletes were sanctioned by the French authority and, to our knowledge, never disclosed publicly. Two of the sanctions are from test results obtained from athletes while competing at the French Throwdown.
The AFLD is the French Anti-Doping Agency, essentially the French version of USADA here in the United States. It’s an independent public agency that ensures athletes participating in French sports do not violate anti-doping rules. The AFLD tests multiple sports within France and has issued sanctions to athletes in sports from rugby, racquetball, kickboxing, horse riding and more.
In all four cases, the athlete who was sanctioned was never identified by the AFLD. However, all other decisions handed out by the AFLD in other sports identified the athlete who were sanctioned.
There are some questions regarding the French law and how the athlete in question can be disclosed. Some have said that the AFLD cannot disclose the name until the governing body of the sport publicly announces the name.
In this case, CrossFit nor any of the organizers where these athletes competed ever disclosed these sanctions. It is also unclear if the organizers ever communicated the results to anyone within CrossFit, LLC. I have been told that only organizers of the competition have the results of the drug tests by the AFLD.
However, that is in contrast to what Daniel Chaffey, one of the founders of the French Throwdown said. “We have been informed of one athlete failing the French government’s drug test. However, they have not and will not be communicating the name of the person to us,” shared Chaffey.
Chaffey continued, “They test people they choose to test, not from the ranking, but from watching the athletes during the competition. Whoever the athlete is, they have a one year ban.”
August 5, 2024 Decision
Chaffey’s last comment was about the sanction handed out by the AFLD on August 5, 2024, related to a female athlete who tested positive for Oxandrolone while competing at the 2023 French Throwdown on June 25, 2023.
The unidentified athlete received a one-year sanction from September 12, 2023 to September 12, 2024.
The decision is in French, but I was able to translate the document to English.
As you can see at the top, the decision relates to a woman. Other decision documents like this state the name of the athlete here, but for whatever reason this sanction does not identify the woman.
The drug in question is Oxandrolone, an anabolic-androgenic steroid. CrossFit has sanctioned athletes like Rachel Campbell, Natalie Newhart and a few other lesser known athletes for using Oxandrolone.
The sanction for the unidentified athlete is just ONE year along with the forfeiture of the athlete’s results, medals and winnings.
May 23, 2024 Decision
This case is a bit odd as the athlete, also unidentified in the official sanction, violated anti-doping rules due to “possession and attempted use of a prohibited substance”. It appears the violation occurred on March 10, 2023, however, no details around how it was discovered that this athlete had banned substances in his or her possession.
The athlete received a three-year sanction running from May 23, 2024 through May 23, 2027.
The sanction has been translated to English below:
The Athlete Who Continued to Compete
Two of the sanctions are related to a male athlete who continued to compete despite being suspended. Again unnamed, this athlete failed a drug test while competing on June 25, 2022. While the French Throwdown was not named, the 2022 French Throwdown was June 24-26, 2022.
The athlete submitted a sample that tested positive for prednisone and prednisolone, both Glucocorticosteroids). As such, he received a one-year sanction from March 8, 2023 through March 8, 2024 per a March 8, 2023 decision by the AFLD.
The sanction has been translated to English below:
Then on March 21, 2024, the AFLD issued a decision to further sanction the athlete for failing to comply with the suspension period. The public decision further stated that the results of the competing on July 22 and July 28, 2023, were in breach of his initial suspension.
The 2023 Affiliates Battle was held on July 22-23, 2023. The athlete’s suspension was extended another year, from March 9, 2024 through March 9, 2025.
The sanction has been translated to English below:
Additionally, Adrian Mundwiler was told that this same athlete competed at the 2023 European CrossFit Games Semifinals in Berlin. This, however, has not been able to be validated.
CrossFit-Licensed Competition
The 2022 and 2023 French Throwdown and the 2023 Affiliate Battles were CrossFit-licensed events. Both the French Throwdown website and their event page on Competition Corner refer to being a CrossFit competition. In fact, their website brags it is “Europe’s biggest CrossFit competition.”
The Problem
There are multiple problems with all of this. First, the athletes have never been identified. Based on what Chaffey said, it is unclear whether the organizers were ever told of who received a sanction.
But it makes no sense why both competitions would have the AFLD conduct drug tests and then not receive the results of the test.
Second, the sanctions were much less than the standard four-year suspension typically handed out by CrossFit or other governing bodies. It is unclear why these sanctions were just one-year.
Who Could It Be?
So who could have failed their drug tests? This might be impossible to answer unless the organizers of the French Throwdown or Affiliates Battle go public with the information.Â
Again, French law surrounding the disclosure is not fully understood, but athletes in other sports have been made public…so apparently it can be done. The question is, then, why were the athletes kept confidential and who received knowledge of the suspensions?
If you’re curious who was competing at these competitions, here are the links to the leaderboards on Competition Corner:
2022 French Throwdown
2023 Affiliates Battle
2023 French Throwdown
CrossFit Sanction?
CrossFit has never issued less than a two-year sanction, even for an athlete who was able to prove that a supplement had been contaminated. In this case, this unidentified athlete received a one-year sanction while competing at a CrossFit-licensed competition.
The CrossFit Games drug policy states that CrossFit can impose a sanction to an athlete who fails a drug test at an event outside the CrossFit Games season. It’s why Marcha Van Glaanen Weygel could not compete at the 2024 Masters CrossFit Games following our reporting that she failed a drug test at a Masters Weightlifting Competition.
It’s also why Dayana Vicentelli was officially sanctioned by CrossFit after testing positive for a banned substance while competing at the Fitland Fitness Festival. In this case, organizers of Fitland notified CrossFit of the failed drug test and CrossFit issued a four-year sanction.
Do You Have Information?
If you have information on any of these three athletes who were anonymously sanctioned, let us know. Send us a DM on Instagram.
