Brazil’s Rio Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz has been suspended from the Paris Games after testing positive for a banned substance last July.
Braz, 30, provisionally suspended last July for the presence or use of ostarine glucuronide, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which handles doping cases in athletics.
On Tuesday, the AIU announced that a disciplinary court has set Braz’s suspension at 16 months, retroactive from the start of his provisional suspension. He can return to competition on November 27.
According to the AIU, Braz has appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The AIU said Braz “claimed that he did not knowingly take ostarine because he was given the supplements – which contained the banned substance – by his sports nutritionist for the purpose of improving his health. The athlete further claimed that he was told by the nutritionist assured that the relevant investigation of the pharmacies involved had been carried out and that he had also been assured that ‘none of the supplements supplied to him contained substances banned by WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency)’.
The AIU sought a four-year ban and will consider appealing against the 16-month ban imposed by the tribunal.
The majority of the tribunal panel found that Braz “acted without significant fault” and with a “normal” degree of negligence.
Braz “should have been more careful in his trust of his medical team, requested more specific information and documents, and made reasonable inquiries on his own,” Braz said. according to the decision.
The AIU alleged that Braz “was reckless and acted with indirect intent.”
“He was aware of the risk associated with using supplements sourced from compound pharmacies in Brazil and had ‘clearly ignored that risk,’” the AIU said in a news release.
Ostarine glucuronide is listed by WADA as a prohibited anabolic agent. Ostarine is used to improve muscle growth and athletic performance.
In 2016, Braz won Brazil’s only athletics medal at the Rio Games, upsetting then-world record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France by breaking a personal best and Olympic record of 6.03 meters.
Braz took bronze at the Tokyo Games and fourth at the 2022 World Championships.
Braz was ranked outside the top 30 in the world in pole vault for 2023 in terms of best clearance.
