Shayna Jack to present diary evidence to ASADA in bid to beat doping ban
Shayna Jack is innocent, or so she claims, and the young swimmer intends to present the evidence that will clear her name on Friday when she meets with ASADA.
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- Swim CEO: Jack to blame for doping failure
- Sport left exposed by secrets, lies, excuses
- ‘She’s not a drug taker. She’s not cheat’
- Swimming Australia dopes must pay heavy price
Australian swimmer Shayna Jack will submit a food and supplements diary to anti-doping officials when she and her legal team meet with ASADA on Friday.
The 20-year-old will travel to Canberra as she steps up the fight to clear her name less than a year out from the Tokyo Olympics.
One of the best freestyle sprinters in Australia, Jack made international headlines last week when news leaked she had withdrawn from the world swimming championships in Korea after testing positive to the banned substance Ligandrol.
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Jack remains adamant she never knowingly took any performance-enhancing substances and will use the diary in a bid to prove her innocence to ASADA.
It is understood Jack will not contest the legitimacy of the positive doping tests but will fight accusations she set out to cheat.
JACK CAN SAVE HER CAREER
Swimming Australia head coach Jacco Verhaeren believes Jack can bounce back and save her career.
“Yes definitely (she can come back from this),” said Verhaeren, on arrival in Brisbane from the world swimming championships in South Korea. “There are cases where the athlete’s name is cleared, and it was all a mistake or contamination or whatever it was. And sure they come back from that.”
ASADA STILL INVESTIGATING
Jack’s manager Philip Stoneman says ASADA was looking into Jack’s claims.
“I don’t think this is a question of Shayna denying there is something in her body,” Stoneman said. “What she is doing is fighting her innocence because it shouldn’t be in there and she doesn’t know how it got in there.”
“She’s vulnerable. She’s scared. She’s worried. There was no intention to hide anything.”
“She’s an open book and I think that’s what we are trying to say, Shayna has nothing hide.
“We now know ASADA are taking her claims very seriously. They say they didn’t immediately come out to the public with the information because they are looking into her claims whether or not there is a drug facilitator in the sport.”
ZERO TOLERANCE
News of Jack’s planned meeting in Canberra comes as ASADA broke its own silence on the drugs furore that has enveloped Swimming Australia.
ASADA released a public statement on Monday explaining why it was left to Swimming Australia and Jack to reveal her failed drug test.
Swimming Australia’s decision to withhold the information of the test, even from her teammates, has led to widespread criticism of the governing body.
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But chief executive Leigh Russell has declared the organisation is comfortable with its decision to follow the policies and process guidelines it shares with ASADA, the national sports anti-doping agency.
ASADA is investigating whether she “inadvertently” tested positive for synthetic drug Ligandrol - used to increase muscle mass - in both her A and B samples, or if she has been caught-up in a situation similar to that which swirled around Stephen Dank in AFL and rugby league.
Although he was never found guilty of doping violations and is no longer involved in sport, Dank has been accused of being the architect of a supplements program that derailed both Essendon and Cronulla Sharks.
Under the direction of ASADA chief executive David Sharpe, who was appointed in 2017, it has spent the past 18 months using its powers and ties with the AFP, and both state and territory police, to target drug dealers, organised crime and anyone who plays a role in making sport dirty.
Mr Sharpe is determined to rid Australian sport of “facilitators”, which is why in a statement on Monday ASADA explained its process behind withholding any detail over Jack’s drug bombshell.
“As a leading anti-doping organisation ASADA is one of a few anti-doping organisations globally that has investigation powers under legislation,’’ a statement said.
“It is ASADA’s standard practice to conduct a thorough investigation in relation to all allegations of doping in Australian sport, including when an athlete returns a ‘positive’ test result for a non-specified prohibited substance.
“This enables ASADA to assess the veracity of an athlete’s claims and determine whether other athletes or support persons are involved in a broader anti-doping issue … More importantly, our investigations enable ASADA to target facilitators who may be preying on Australian sport and our athletes.
“Australians’ demand that our athletes compete on a level playing field and ASADA’s investigative powers and capability are an instrumental tool in ensuring that we lead the way in this area.”
CONTAMINATION CLAIM
Stoneman even went as far as saying Jack could simply have been the victim of contaminated food.
Swimming’s world governing body FINA on Monday denied leaking the news of the Jack scandal as payback for Mack Horton’s protest against Sun Yang.
One of the reasons behind his protest was that China let Sun compete even though he is awaiting an appeal after he was let off with a warning for smashing his blood samples with a hammer before they could be tested for drugs.