Tommy Tillman, 65, is the first athlete at the 2022 CrossFit Games to have received a sanction for failing a drug test. Tillman, who took 5th in the men’s 65+ division of the CrossFit Games, tested positive for clomiphene.
With the positive result, CrossFit handed down a 4-year ban from competing in CrossFit competitions until August 6, 2026. It appears that Tillman did not appeal the decision.
Tillman is not the first CrossFit athlete to test positive for clomiphene, an estrogen receptor modulator that can help boost testosterone levels. Pedro Martins, William Dolpogeto, and Michel Catris tested positive for clomiphene in 2022. In 2017, Andrea Barbotti and ĽudovÃt Czókoly tested positive for the banned substance along with Ryan Elrod who was taking a fertility medication containing clomiphene.
Clomiphene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) that is commonly used in female fertility medications such as Clomid. In women, it can help with ovulation. In men, it can alter testosterone levels.
The FDA has approved clomiphene “for the treatment of ovulatory dysfunction in women desiring pregnancy.” However, the FDA has not approved clomiphene for men under any condition.
In sport, clomiphene is prohibited at all times by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as an anti-estrogenic substance.
