Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus cleared of doping ban after court determines accidental contamination by kissing
The French athlete tested positive for ostarine ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics
By
Carter Bahns
•
1 min read
The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus of a doping allegation, concluding that she was contaminated by kissing her partner. The World Anti-Doping Agency sought a four-year ban for Thibus, but the ruling clears the way for a potential run at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Thibus produced an abnormal doping test prior to the Paris Olympics, testing positive for the anabolic substance ostarine, and received a provisional suspension in Feb. 2024. She argued that the positive test was a product of accidental contamination by her partner at the time, two-time Olympic bronze medalist Race Imboden of the United States, and received clearance from the International Fencing Federation just ahead of the competition in Paris. Once cleared, Thibus took 28th in the women's individual foil and placed fifth in the women's team foil with Team France.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator which can promote muscle and bone growth. It is not approved for human use by any country's regulatory body, and it is banned by the WADA.
The CAS court in Lausanne, Switzerland concluded that Thibus' contamination was accidental and that it occurred over a period of nine days while Thibus had no knowledge of her partner's ostarine use.
"It is scientifically established," the court said Monday, "that the intake of an ostarine dose similar to the dose ingested by Ms. Thibus' then partner would have left sufficient amounts of ostarine in the saliva to contaminate a person through kissing."
The case is similar to that of another French athlete, Richard Gasquet. The tennis player in 2009 had his doping case dismissed after the CAS court found he was accidentally contaminated with cocaine after he kissed a woman in a Miami, Fla. club. WADA sought a two-year ban, but Gasquet was cleared to compete after the ruling.
Thibus, 33, is a three-time Olympian, the 2022 individual world champion and a 2020 team Olympic silver medalist. She holds eight world championship medals, including a silver in each of the team women's foil and individual women's foil. The silver medal at the Olympics came when France placed second in the team competition at the Tokyo Games.
