This past Friday, USADA announced that Jessica Penne had her four year sanction for her second violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy reduced to 20 months.
According to the release, Penne tested positive for “trace levels for two metabolites of stanozolol” as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample on April 8, 2019. A reason for the reduction of the sentence was Penne’s “participation in discussions with USADA following her initial public comments in January.” Penne indicated that she believed she was being bullied by USADA and forced to retire from MMA. A Go-Fund Me account was set up in order to combat the adverse results in preparation for a possible arbitration. However, the parties were able to come to a decision short of the process.
Penne, through her management team, posted a test report from an independent lab showing that the results would exonerate her.
Via USADA press release:
During its investigation – and in an effort to determine a relative time period of stanozolol ingestion that caused her positive test – USADA also requested that the laboratory re-analyze Penne’s out-of-competition sample previously reported negative from April 4, 2019. The laboratory was able to conduct targeted analysis on the April 4, 2019 sample and subsequently identified trace levels for one stanozolol metabolite also found in her April 8, 2019 sample. The supplements that Penne submitted for analysis did not test positive for stanozolol. Upon notification of her positive test, Penne obtained a third-party laboratory result showing that a medication was the source of the prohibited substance in her sample. However, through working with the third-party laboratory and the WADA-accredited Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, USADA determined that the initial results from the third-party lab did not adequately establish a source of the positive test due to the lab’s testing protocol.
Penne’s 20-month period of ineligibility began on April 8, 2019, the date her positive sample was collected.
Payout Perspective:
The good news for Penne is that she will be able to return to the UFC octagon and her second suspension will not end her career. The concern is that the costs of exoneration is an uphill battle for most UFC contracted athletes. Even if they are to retain a third-party lab to examine the potential supplement or medication at issue, USADA may still decline the results. This is a concern for those that may have had a tainted supplement or a physician prescribed medication that they unknowingly ingested a banned substance.
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