On November 28, the explanatory proceedings concerning the possible violation of anti-doping rules by Iga Świątek, which began on September 12 and were so far covered by a confidentiality clause, ended. The proceedings were initiated because the inspectors detected a small concentration of a prohibited substance in one of the anti-doping tests. This is trimetazidine (TMZ).
Before the tournament in Cincinnati, a trace trimetazidine concentration of 0.05 ng/ml (50 pg/ml) was determined. According to Iga's staff, the remaining over 20 anti-doping tests of the athlete this season were negative, including two tests just before and two after August 12 – immediately after the end of the Olympic Games.
The tennis player received information about the detection of a prohibited substance by e-mail.
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A cure for sleep disorders
Świątek was suspended from sports performances for a month. It was at the turn of September and October. Then the player and her staff intensively explained the whole matter.
It quickly turned out that the substance was contained in a medicine containing melatonin, permitted for use by athletes and, as Iga's staff points out, recommended to the tennis player by a doctor. Melatonin makes it easier to fall asleep, e.g. during time zone changes. According to information obtained from the Iga headquarters, the drug was contaminated at the stage of factory production of another drug.
“Facts and scientific evidence, opinions of experts and doctors, and other, without exception, negative results of numerous anti-doping tests, clearly indicate Iga's accidental contact with a banned substance, and therefore her innocence. Iga was unable to prevent this situation and had no grounds whatsoever. to suspect that the drug she has been using on an ad hoc basis for years and recommended by a doctor, and what is more, allowed for athletes, may be factory-contaminated. Moreover, only this year the tennis player “she was checked over 20 times, including, in a short period of time, twice before and twice after the only positive test in her career,” we read in the information provided by the Iga staff.
“The athlete quickly provided hair samples, as well as all the medications and supplements she uses to reputable laboratories,” says the staff. – “With the proven source of the player's contact with the banned substance (by taking a drug that was contaminated with TMZ), the ITIA issued a recommendation to immediately lift the player's suspension, in accordance with the procedures, allowing her to take part in the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia and in the Billie Jean King Cup representative tournament in Malaga. The suspension was lifted on October 4.
Innocent
According to Iga's entourage, the athlete's hair samples were examined by the world authority in the analysis of hair samples, prof. Pascal Kintz, did not show the presence of any banned substance, including TMZ. This clearly indicates that the tennis player did not take even the smallest therapeutic dose of a prohibited substance.
On November 28, ITIA announced that it accepted Świątek's arguments. Therefore, the Polish woman is innocent. This was demonstrated by analyses, expert opinions and tests confirmed by experts and an additional laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), commissioned by ITIA.
There are still eight days left until Iga's suspension is fully implemented. It turns out that there are still so many days left for Idze to serve her “full sentence” of a month. Then, after three weeks, when it turned out that the Pole was not guilty, she was allowed to return to the court. Now – as a formality – he is to finish serving his suspension.
According to Iga's staff, the tennis player agreed to this – the WTA season was ended and her innocence was proven. The Pole therefore had no reason not to accept this offer.
Key time
The suspension lasted during the tournaments in Seoul, Beijing and Wuhan. Iga's staff justified the player's withdrawal from the tournament for personal reasons.
Withdrawal from tournaments resulted in the loss of many ranking points, including: 1,000 points for winning the tournament in Beijing last year, which contributed to the player losing her leading position in the WTA ranking.
The complexities of the whole matter also include, among others: on the categorization of the melatonin intake. The source of contamination was a drug considered to be a drug, not a supplement, because drugs are subject to stricter requirements, which reduces the risk of taking a prohibited substance. For this reason, the consequence in Iga's case is symbolic and lasts for a month.
In another case investigated by ITIA, Czech tennis player Nikola Bartunkova, the consequence of TMZ testing was 6 months because it was in the athlete's body via a supplement. And with a supplement, the risk of contamination is higher. The athlete is responsible for what he takes and is tested on this basis.
We were shocked
Iga does not hide that it was the most difficult challenge she has ever faced in her entire life.
– It was a huge stress for her and the entire team, initial confusion, sense of injustice, fear that she might lose everything she had worked so hard for, even though she was innocent. There were many sleepless nights, Iga had and still has a lot of fear that people will turn away from her, even though we are dealing with an unintentional situation and not her fault – Paula Wolecka, the tennis player's PR manager, admits to us.
– An additional difficulty was the inability to share the ongoing proceedings, so when it was finally possible to do so, Iga decided to share with fans and the public all the details of the proceedings confirming her innocence. After all this difficult time, she is also very proud of herself that she was able to muster the strength and determination to play in the WTA Finals in such an extreme situation and give her all to the Polish national team in Malaga – says Wolecka. – We were all shocked because we know Iga's work standards and ours, professionalism, attention to the smallest detail of her career, so we knew from the very beginning that Iga was innocent.
Wolecka also emphasizes that after the initial surprise, the team took action. He also emphasizes that he submitted to ITIA procedures.
From the beginning, we took care of substantive and emotional support for Iga, efficient communication between us, and following the instructions of doping experts and scientists.
Świątek's start of the next season is expected to go smoothly. The Pole is preparing for her first starts under the supervision of new coach Wim Fissette.
Dawid Góra, head of the editorial office of WP SportoweFakty
