CrossFit HQ quietly announced last week that six athletes who had previously failed drug tests earlier in the year had officially received a 4-year ban from competing in CrossFit-sanctioned events. All but one of the athletes, Pieter Smith, failed drug tests while competing at one of the Semifinal competitions in May and June 2022. Smith failed an out-of-competition drug test on July 15.
Jaylond Franklin and Toby Johnson appealed their results while Ines Alviso asked for analysis of her B sample. Pieter Smith, Mirela Bedore and Ben Wadham did not appeal their results.
The announcement leaves eight athletes yet to be sanctioned after failed a drug test this year. Hunter Williams, Stephen Wallace, Lize Burns, Nasser Alruwayeh, Phil Toon, Pedro Martins, Michel Catris and Sandra Annett failed in-competition drug tests at one of the Semifinal events this summer. All have either appealed the findings or asked for the B sample to be tested.
In speaking with one of the athletes who appealed their results, they indicated they had a mid-August deadline to formally submit an appeal. The athlete said an official appeal was submitted and now they are waiting to hear back from CrossFit. The athlete did not receive a timeline from CrossFit on when a decision will be made.
So in a year that has seen quite a few athletes fail their drug test, we will have to wait a little longer for all to be resolved. And based on the timing of the process for the testing from Semifinals, it could be a while to find out if any athletes competing at the CrossFit Games tested positive.
Last year, CrossFit announced several failed drug tests in late August. However, back in 2017 when Ricky Garard was suspended, it wasn’t until October that CrossFit made the announcement.
We reached out to CrossFit, Inc. regarding this story and have not received a response at this time.
Stay tuned to The Barbell Spin as we continue to keep an eye out for a resolution on these outstanding appeals.
