Swiss triathlete Imogen Simmonds is facing doping allegations.
26.02.2025, 19:13
26.02.2025, 20:50
SDA
As Swiss Triathlon announced on Wednesday, the 31-year-old tested positive for doping on December 8, 2024 in the run-up to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in New Zealand.
The banned substance detected was a metabolite of ligandrol, which is said to promote blood flow to the muscles and their growth, as Simmonds explained in a detailed Instagram post. The 2019 European Ironman champion maintains her innocence and rejects any accusations of having deliberately taken banned performance-enhancing substances.
Simmonds holds partner responsible
As the middle and long-distance specialist explains, she immediately hired an experienced team of lawyers to get to the bottom of the cause of the contamination following the shocking news. The investigations revealed that her long-term partner had taken Ligandrol at the relevant time to optimize his own body - but without her knowledge.
A hair sample confirmed Simmonds' assumption: her test result was negative, while Ligandrol was detected in her partner. In view of the circumstances, in particular a negative doping test six days before and 22 days after the positive sample, her team sees the cause of the transmission in the exchange of bodily fluids through "intimate relationships". This is how the substance got into her system.
In order to prove her innocence to the association, she has brought "the best expert" to her side, writes Simmonds. "We will present our evidence to the federations within the specified deadlines and in accordance with their procedures."