New Delhi: In a decision that might remind many of the infamous “cocaine kiss” case involving former French tennis player Richard Gasquet, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has cleared French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus of doping allegations after accepting her defence that she was contaminated due to kissing her partner.
Thibus tested positive for the anabolic substance Ostarine in February last year and was provisionally suspended. However, she was later allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics after getting cleared by an International Fencing Federation tribunal following her argument that she had been contaminated accidentally by kissing her partner and was unaware of any wrongdoing.
The tribunal’s judgement was challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which questioned Thibus’ explanation, demanding a four-year ban on the fencer for the doping offence. However, the CAS’s judging panel dismissed WADA’s appeal on Monday and cleared the French fencer of doping allegations.
The CAS judges accepted Thibus’ argument that her then-partner, Race Imboden, a two-time Olympic fencing bronze medallist from US, was taking Ostarine at the time, and the contamination happened due to close contact between the couple for nine days.
“It is scientifically established that the intake of an ostarine dose similar to the dose ingested by Ms Thibus’ then partner would have left sufficient amounts of Ostarine in the saliva to contaminate a person through kissing,” CAS said in its statement, as per AP.
The judgment panel accepted that “Ms. Thibus’ then-partner was taking Ostarine from Jan. 5, 2024, and that there was contamination over nine days with a cumulative effect.”
Thibus is a three-time Olympian for France and won the silver medal in team foil at the Tokyo Olympics. She also won the World Championships in foil in 2022. The 33-year-old failed to win a medal at the Paris Olympics last year, finishing fifth in the women’s team foil event and 28th in the women’s individual foil event at the Games.
Ysaora Thibus’ case resembles Gasquet’s ‘cocaine-kiss’ case