Triathlete Blames Positive Drug Test On Sex With Her Partner Who Was Taking The Substance At The Time
Swiss triathlete Imogen Simmonds is under a provisional suspension after testing positive for a banned substance back in December. She denies taking any banned substances and has a perfectly good explanation for how she ended up with a tiny bit of it in her system.
The reason for the failed test, according to the No. 7-ranked triathlete in the world, was sex with her partner. He was on Ligandrol to "help improve his own personal physique around the time of the positive test."
Imogen Simmonds of Switzerland competes during the run leg of IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Women in France. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
It's as simple as that. Simmonds and her partner got it on the day before and the day of the random drug test. The exchange of bodily fluids excuse, which has been successful in appealing positive doping tests before.
Olympic boxer Ginny Fuchs is one such example. She blamed a positive test for a banned substance on unprotected sex and, after an investigation, USADA found no wrongdoing on her part. She wasn't gaming the system, she was just trying to have some sex.
Back to Imogen Simmonds. She took her case to social media last week with a lengthy explanation of how she ended up with a tiny bit of the banned substance in her body. This was not her fault. It was a case of "the transfer of bodily fluid" and nothing more.
Imogen Simmonds pleads her case on social media and blames the positive test on her partner
"On 8 December 2024, I was randomly drug tested out-of-competition in the leadup to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand. I was stunned and devastated when the test came back positive for a metabolite of ligandrol at picogram levels (a quantity that is equivalent to a dash of salt in an Olympic-size swimming pool and would have never provided me with any performance-enhancing benefit). I had no idea what the substance was or how it could have got into my system," Simmonds wrote.
"Upon receiving the news, I immediately hired experienced counsel. Through investigation and research, it was discovered that, unknown to me, my longtime partner had been ingesting ligandrol to help improve his own personal physique around the time of the positive test."
The classic case of a partner taking banned substances in the home of a professional athlete. It's happened time and time again. The spouses of a certain NFL quarterback and an MLB pitcher come to mind. It happens is all I'm saying.
"At the instruction of my legal team, my partner and I immediately submitted to a hair sample analysis that confirmed I have never taken ligandrol (my hair sample came back negative), while my partner had done so over the period in question (his hair sample came back positive)," she continued.
"As a result, considering the timeline of events: specifically, that I had a negative doping control test six days earlier and 22 days after, and that my partner and I engaged in intimate relations both the day of and day before my 8 December 2024 doping control test – my legal team and I have concluded that this substance got into my system via the transfer of bodily fluid."
"We have hired the best expert in the world to assist us with proving my case and will provide our evidence to IRONMAN/the ITA within their stated deadlines and according to their procedures."
"I have been tested regularly both in and out of competition for the last several years and have always returned negative results, which is why this case has been a nightmare for me and something I never imagined I’d have to deal with in my lifetime. I take my anti-doping obligations seriously and am a true believer in clean sport, so to have my name be associated with a banned substance is heartbreaking."
She concluded, "While I am not the first athlete to have this happen to them, I likely won’t be the last, so I hope my story can help raise awareness of this form of contamination."
Simmonds finished in ninth place in the overall standings in the T100 Triathlon World Tour last season. As she's stated, she's never failed a drug test before and an innocent transfer of bodily fluid shouldn’t keep her from competing.