Ms Mariia Bespalova is a Russian Athlete competing in the Women’s hammer throw event at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In 2016, the IOC decided to perform further analyses on certain samples collected during the 2012 Olympic Games. These additional analyses were performed with analytical methods which were not available in 2012.
In December 2016 the International Olympic Committee reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Athlete after her 2012 A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol). After notification the Athlete filed a statement in her defence and she did not attend the hearing of the IOC Disciplinary Commission.
The Athlete denied having used performance-enhancing substances. As an explanation for the presence of the Prohibited Substances, she raised the hypothesis that the substances may have been contained in food supplements bought on the Internet and used at that time.
The Disciplinary Commission observes that the fact that the substance in question may have been contained in food supplements would not exonerate the Athlete from having used it. There is in any event no indication (not to speak of any evidence) in her explanation that she satisfied the high duty of care and caution in choosing food supplements, which is expected from high-level athletes.
With the positive test results the Commission concludes that the Athlete has committed an anti-doping rule violation consistent with the intentional use of a prohibited substances specifically ingested to deliberately improve performance. The fact that the metabolites of a doping substance, which is a “classical” doping substance, was found, supports this consideration.
Furthermore, the Commission notes that the Athlete has been sanctioned under IAAF Rules with a 4 year period of ineligibility on 6 September 2015 for the same prohibited substance turinabol, which more than suggests that the Athlete has been doping on a regular basis throughout her career.
Therefore IOC Disciplinary Commission decides on 15 March 2017 that the Athlete Mariia Bespalova:
1.) is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London in 2012 (presence, and/or use, of Prohibited Substances or its Metabolites or Markers in an athlete’s bodily specimen),
2.) is disqualified from the event in which she participated upon the occasion of the Olympic Games London 2012, namely the Women’s hammer throw event.
3.) The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.
4.) This decision enters into force immediately.
