New York Road Runners’ Next Chairman Once Failing a Doping Test

Lynch tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient in decongestants. It is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances because pseudoephedrine can be used as a stimulant.

After the drug test, track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, now World Athletics, prohibited Lynch from competing in the world cross-country championships that year, and U.S.A. Track Field suspended her for three months. She returned to competition and raced in the world cross-country championships the next year.

The suspension occurred four years before the origin of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, an independent organization created to take doping enforcement out of the hands of national governing bodies. Had Lynch violated the currently accepted amount of pseudoephedrine today, she would most likely face a much longer suspension than three months.

At the time of Lynch’s violation, athletes could not have more than 25 micrograms per milliliter of pseudoephedrine in their urine. Officials removed pseudoephedrine from the list of banned substances from 2004 to 2009, then put it back on in 2010 but raised the level required for a violation to 150 micrograms per milliliter.

Officials with U.S.A. Track Field were not immediately able to locate any records of Lynch’s case that might confirm how much pseudoephedrine was in her system. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency does not have jurisdiction or records on positive cases that were resolved before its existence. It is possible that she tested positive for an amount that would not be considered a violation today.

Lynch’s explanation at the time is common among athletes who fail doping tests and claim they never knowingly took an illegal substance. But antidoping rules hold athletes responsible for all substances in their bodies, for being familiar with the banned list and for attaining a therapeutic use exemption if they need a drug.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/sports/marathon-new-york-road-runners.html