Swimming Australia blame Shayna Jack for delay in telling public of doping breach
Swimming Australia has turned the heat on to Shayna Jack blaming the swim star for the delay in coming clean to the Australian public over her failed doping test.
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Swimming Australia (SA) has come under attack over their handling of Shayna Jack’s doping drama but the governing body’s CEO Leigh Russell has claimed her hands were tied when it came to informing the Australian public about the matter.
Speaking to the Today program on Monday morning, Russell put the blame for the delay in coming clean about the failed test on Jack and Australia’s anti-doping authority ASADA.
“Absolutely it would have been so much easier for us at Swimming Australia to be transparent about the adverse test finding as soon as we were notified,” Russell said.
“Certainly that would have been an incredibly easier proposition for us than perhaps waiting for Shayna or ASADA to release information and I think that might be a conversation we need to have at a later stage with the relevant authorities.”
“Shayna said to me that she wanted to share this information but she was also trying to balance the needs of the team currently competing in or had just finished competing in Korea last night.
“My understanding is she was going to share this information with the broader public at some stage this week.”
COACH: I BELIEVE IN SHAYNA AND WE’RE GOING TO FIGHT
Shayna Jack’s coach Dean Boxall says he’s absolutely certain that she’s innocent of doping and he will stand by her while she fights to clear her name.
Boxall said there was no doubt in his mind that Jack was a clean swimmer so he accepts her explanation that the only way she could have tested positive to the banned drug Ligandrol was by ingesting something that was contaminated.
“She’s going to fight them and we’re going to fight with her and Swimming Australia’s going to fight with her because I believe in Shayna,” Boxall said.
“I believe strongly in the story. I know my athlete so this is a very, very sad story, but we’ve just got to go through the process.”
Boxall said he was told about the test result just after the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority called Jack while she was at team training camp in Tokyo a week before the world championships.
READ SHAYNA JACK’S FULL STATEMENT HERE
He said that she was so distraught that they went for a stroll to try to compose her, and ended up walking for 8km.
“I was called into the room and I was informed and I walked into a very distraught girl,” he said.
“I had never seen someone that upset and of course that made me very upset.
“The girl’s devastated and I’m devastated because I love my athletes.
“It’s about relationships and I support Shayna and I certainly support Swimming Australia and I support our stance on zero tolerance for drug cheating and so does Shayna.”
Boxall and Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren were the only members of the squad that knew about the test result but were sworn to secrecy.
The only thing Boxall had told his squad swimmers that are in the Australian squad, including Ariarne Titmus, was that Jack had left the team for “personal reasons” and they weren’t to talk about it.
“Of course it’s been difficult because you’re trying to prepare your athletes for the world championships so I certainly haven’t told anybody, not even my wife,” he said.
THE PUNISHMENT
Shayna Jack is facing the prospect of a lengthy ban that could rule her out of next year’s Tokyo Olympics after she revealed she had tested positive to the banned synthetic drug Ligandrol — which is used by bodybuilders to increase muscle and athletic performance.
One of Australia’s best freestyle sprinters, the 20-year-old is maintaining she is innocent and the positive results were probably caused by an accidental contamination.
She has vowed to clear her name, but the knives are already out for her and Swimming Australia, which has been accused of a cover up.
Jack posted a statement on her Instagram account confirming that both her A and B samples had come back positive before the world championships began, so she will be charged with a doping offence.
“The day I found out was the day I began my fight to prove my innocence,” she said.
“Myself, along with my lawyer, management team, doctor and family have been working continuously to not only prove my innocence but to try to find out how this substance has come into contact with me, to ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else, as I wouldn’t wish this experience on my worst enemy.”
Designed to help increase muscle growth, Ligandrol, also known as LGD-4033, is one of the drugs of choice for bodybuilders because it enhances performance without the negative side effects of steroids. It can also be found in dietary supplements, prompting ASADA last year to issue a warning about it because of a spike in positive tests.
“LGD-4033 is increasingly becoming a concern — with nine Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF — positive tests) in 2017, six AAFs in 2016 and two AAFs in 2015. Athletes are warned that not only is LGD-4033 prohibited in sport but it is not yet cleared through clinical trials.”
The length of suspensions can vary widely, from a few months to years, but the process can take time, leaving her racing against the clock to compete in Tokyo even if she is cleared.
Jack was randomly selected by ASADA for drug testing on June 26, while with the Australian swim team at a training camp in Cairns.
On July 12, when she was with the team in Japan for the final camp before the world championships, she was summoned to the room of Australia’s head coach Jacco Verhaeren because an ASADA officer in Canberra wanted to speak with her.
“I sat down, waiting for ASADA to answer my call and then a woman’s voice said those haunting words for any athlete: ‘We have tested your sample and it has come back positive to a prohibited substance’,” Jack said.
“I felt my heart break instantaneously. I couldn’t breathe to answer her next couple of questions. I was placed on immediate provisional suspension until the ‘B sample’ is tested.’’
Jack said the officer “went on to explain what was found in my system, I had never heard of it before, let alone know how to pronounce it; she said it was ‘Ligandrol’.
“I now know that this can be found in contaminated supplements.”
Verhaeren was among a small group of people who knew about the test result. Jack’s regular coach Dean Boxall was also notified and Swimming Australia’s chief executive Leigh Russell knew about it.
All were sworn to secrecy so no other team member could be made aware. Swimming Australia’s explanation was that Jack had returned home for “personal reasons”.
A week later, on July 19, Jack was back home in Queensland when she got the news her B sample had also come back positive.
“I had felt a sense of hope knowing I didn’t take this substance and that it was all a mistake during the testing and that I could return to compete for my country and with the team, however, that wasn’t the case,” she said.
“As I read the results, my brain couldn’t even comprehend what I was seeing. I had to reread it several times before I felt that same pain and heartache all over again.
“I instantly turned to my grandma, who was with me at the time and wailed. With my legs no longer holding me up, I fell to the ground.”
Fellow swimmer Mack Horton, whose anti-drug protest made worldwide headlines last week, said in a statement last night: “I was disappointed to learn late yesterday that a fellow Dolphins team member had recently returned a positive A Sample. I applaud the decision to immediately withdraw the athlete in question from further competition until this matter is resolved.
“My position remains firm — a clean sport must be a priority for all athletes, all nations and all sports.’’
Jack will meet with ASADA on Friday where she will be told the exact levels her test results returned. No date for a hearing has been set but she can asked for the case to be expedited to try and stay in the hunt for Tokyo.
Russell said there Swimming Australia had a zero-tolerance policy for athletes who tested positive even if was accidental.
“I do think that people can make mistakes, and seemingly and inadvertently by taking things, but I am not the expert in all that either
“It stands to reason that from time to time you are going to get people who have potentially not realised that something is on the list, but it doesn’t matter, it is their fault.”
MACK HORTON RESPONSE
Swimmer Mack Horton — whose social media accounts were today sprinkled with requests to comment on Jack’s situation — has expressed his disappointment at the news of his team member’s positive drug test.
“I was disappointed to learn late yesterday that a fellow Dolphins team member had recently returned a positive A Sample,” he told Seven News.
“I applaud the decision to immediately withdraw the athlete in question from further competition until this matter is resolved.
“My position remains firm — a clean sport must be a priority for all athletes, all nations and all sports.”
CHINESE TROLLS
Chinese trolls have flooded Shayna Jack’s Instagram account and taken aim at Australia as a “lowborn country with lowborn people” after it was revealed the swimmer tested positive for a banned substance.
Jack — who pulled out of the World Championships after failing the drug test — became terrified she would cop the backlash for Mack Horton’s podium protests against Sun Yang and her fears have proven true, with dozens of trolls accusing her of being a cheat online.
A man called Tony Zhou, whose Instagram profile says he is from Beijing, criticised Jack for being a hypocrite and claimed this was characteristic of Australians.
“This is very Aussie indeed — accusing others while doping for themselves,” he wrote.
“And all Australians scream to say the entire country will back u.
“Truly a lowborn country with lowborn people.”
Another user called Yang Win bizarrely said “China has always been known as a state of etiquette”.
“Once, twice, countless times — you’ve challenged our bottom line over and over again! We uphold traditional virtues of China and disdain to care, but now we will not endure!”
Jack had originally taken to Instagram to announce she was pulling out of the World Championships, writing “it is with great sadness and heartache that I had to leave due to allegations of having a prohibited substance in my system — I did NOT take this substance knowingly”.
But dozens of Chinese trolls hijacked the post and posted emojis of pill capsules while trying to drown out supporters of the swimmer.
A man called Wei Li took aim at Horton on Jack’s Instagram page and wrote: “Mr Horton must feel so ashamed now and will announce to quit Australian team”.
Another user wrote: “Well, Sun didn’t know neither. Now you know how it feels. Fcking hypocritical country” while one said “MORE DRUGS, MORE HAPPY. All of ur country are behind of u to support u to take drugs! God bless cheaters”.
However, former champion swimmer Leisel Jones commented on the post in support of Jack.
“Oh matey, I’m so sorry to hear this,” Jones wrote.
“Take it one day at a time. I hope it is sorted out quickly for you.”
Jack is maintaining she did nothing wrong and has no idea why the test — taken during a training camp in Cairns late last month — came back positive but fears she will be judged harshly because of Australia’s outspoken anti-drugs stance.
“She’s vulnerable, she’s devastated,” Jack’s manager Phil Stoneman said.
“She supports Mack in his situation, she certainly understands his position but she feels that she’s now going to be tarnished with somebody else and she’s done absolutely nothing wrong.”
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