(Reuters) – British para-cyclist Erin McBride has been banned from all sport for three years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for using the prohibited substance ostarine, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) said in a statement https://www.ukad.org.uk/news/british-para-cyclist-receives-three-year-ban.
McBride, a 23-year-old visually-impaired sprinter who joined British Cycling’s Paralympic World Class Programme this year, returned an adverse analytical finding following an out-of-competition test on March 3.
UKAD said that ostarine is a type of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator typically used to gain muscle and burn fat.
McBride, who was suspended in April, admitted the ADRVs she was later charged with and accepted a ban from sport, which was reduced from four years to three for early admission.
“While we acknowledge that McBride suggested she had ‘not knowingly taken any substance’, the rules are explicit and clear: the athlete is personally responsible for what is in their body,” UKAD Director of Operations Pat Myhill said.
“McBride presented no evidence to support her assertions that her violations were not intentional.”
British Cycling said in a separate statement https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20211022-British-Cycling-statement-following-UKAD-announcement-of-ADRV-0 that they had supported UKAD in their efforts to investigate the circumstances of McBride’s adverse analytical findings as part of their commitment to clean sport.
McBride is yet to compete for Britain in para cycling.
Her ban comes a few days after the World Anti-Doping Agency said British Cycling collected samples from riders and screened them for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone at a private laboratory in 2011 in breach of international rules.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
