Ms. Yarelys Barrios is a Cuban Athlete competing in the discus throw Athletics event at the Beijng 2008 Olympic Games.
In 2016, the IOC decided to perform further analyses on certain samples collected during the 2008 Olympic Games. These additional analyses were performed with analytical methods which were not available in 2008.
In May 2016 the International Olympic Committee reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Athlete after her 2008 A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance acetazolamide.
After notification the Athlete filed a statement in her defence and she attended the hearing of the IOC Disciplinary Commission.
The Athlete denied the intentional use of the prohibited substances. She stated that she had not used any medication or food supplements that could have caused the test result and she had mentioned her supplements and prescribed medication on the Doping Control Form.
The Athlete asserted that she had taken the list of medications and had had it checked to see whether any of the components corresponded to the substance which was found in her sample. The Athlete informed the Commission that a large team had worked on this issue; they had been looking for any relationship between the disclosed medications and the substance that had appeared in her urine but they could find no relation.
The Athlete stated that the she had always been faithful to the Olympic rules and had undergone more than 20 controls and tests during her career. The Commission notes that the first thing the Cuban Federation had done was to suspend the Athlete as soon as they had received the notification and because of the provisional suspension, the Athlete would not take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Considering the Athlete’s statement the Commission finds that she failed to bring forth any explanation at all for the presence of a Prohibited Substance in her bodily samples, nor any which would give an indication allowing to exclude that the substance was used for doping purposes (in this case masking purposes).
Therefore the IOC Disciplinary Commission decides on 30 August 2016 that the Athlete Yarelys Barrios:
1.) is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008 (presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen),
2.) is disqualified from the discus event in which she placed 2nd upon the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.
3.) has the silver medal, the diploma, and the medallist pin obtained in the discus throw event withdrawn and is ordered to return same.
4.) The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
5.) The Comité Olímpico Cubano shall ensure full implementation of this decision.
6.) The Comité Olímpico Cubano shall notably secure the return to the IOC, as soon as possible, of the medal, the medallist pin and the diploma awarded in connection with the discus throw event to the Athlete.
7.) This decision enters into force immediately.
