Not so cool runnings: Canadian bobsleigh pilot positive for steroids

The CBC(Canada) tells us that an elite Canadian bobsledder tested positive for nandrolone -- breakfast of champions.  As a result, Serge Despres will serve a 20 month suspension from sledding down the mountain.

A bobsleigh pilot who trains in Calgary is appealing a 20-month suspension after testing positive for steroids.

Serge Despres, originally from Cocagne, N.B., tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, last August, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) said Tuesday.

At an arbitrator's hearing, the 29-year-old athlete lost his challenge of results of a urine test, and was suspended for 20 months.

"I've never knowingly taken any performance-enhancing drugs or any banned substances," Despres said at a Calgary news conference Wednesday.

The bobsledder pulled the nandrolone supplement defense, which could be true but didn't stop the Canadians from issuing the suspension.

"The positive test was caused by a contaminated supplement I was taking during the past summer and I'm here to state I am not a cheater."

Despres said his suspension should have only been one year, adding the supplement he bought in a local health-food store was recommended by his team's dietitian.

The bobsledder said tests showed he had 2.9 nanograms per millimetre of nandrolone in his system, compared to the legal limit of 2.0 naturally produced by the human body.

"My case is possibly the lowest recorded positive test in the history of sports drug testing," he told reporters.

If you're going to dope, do it the right way at least.

Comments

That's just it, he didn't want to get dope up. Get the facts right, do your homework and don't assume everyone is guilty!