In November 2023, Paralympic track and field athlete Roderick Townsend tested positive for capromorelin, which is a growth hormone stimulator.
Now he has been acquitted, and his deceased dog is key to the USADA investigation.
The substance had been administered to the dog to help regulate its weight.
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The three-time Paralympic gold medalist is free to compete at the 2024 Paris Games after the US Anti-Doping Department cleared him of taking a banned substance.
Roderick Townsend tested positive for capromorelin, a growth hormone stimulator that is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, on November 1, 2023.
But upon investigation, it turns out that not everything was as it seemed and Townsend provided an abnormal sample through no fault of his own.
TO USADA investigation into Townsend discovered that the athlete had been giving his dog, who has since died, a specific medication containing capromorelin.
Townsend, who suffered permanent damage to the nerves in his right arm and shoulder at birth, provided evidence of a prescription liquid pet medication containing the substance while trying to stabilize his dog’s ailing weight.
American Paralympic star Roderick Thompson cleared to compete at Paris 2024
Thompson’s dog Winnie, photographed on her Instagram page in a February 2021 post
USADA issued a statement clearing its name, explaining the reasons why it returned an adverse out-of-competition finding for a growth hormone stimulator in November 2023.
The medication was administered to the dog orally via syringe in the final weeks of life, before Townsend kept the syringe that had traces of the medication.
The athletics star, who won gold in the high jump at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, would use the syringe himself to measure and ingest a liquid vitamin D supplement that his nutritionist had recommended.
I had not previously been aware of possible residues of the dog’s medication used in the syringe.
“With increasing detection and investigation capabilities, it is our responsibility to ensure we protect innocent athletes while holding intentional cheaters accountable,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement.
‘WADA rules require the publication of no-fault findings like this to remain in compliance with the rules.
Thompson was not at fault, and the remains of his dog’s medication are the reason behind the outcome.
“We will continue to advocate fervently to WADA that athletes should not be charged with violations or subject to public scrutiny when they inadvertently come into contact with a banned substance and it has no effect on performance.”
Townsend has a limited range of motion and the muscles in her right arm are not fully developed after the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck during childbirth. He fought against able-bodied athletes until age 15, when he was reclassified as a Paralympic athlete.
He has now been cleared and will not face any punishment or period of ineligibility, meaning he can continue until the Paralympic Games this summer.