In other Olympics news, hurdler Brianna McNeal lost her appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was hit with a five-year ban for missing a drug test in 2020:
Five-year ban against Brianna McNeal upheld by Court of Arbitration for Sport
https://t.co/d8OFECjtqd— BG (@BGisBrandonGray) July 2, 2021
She told the New York Times that she didn’t open the door for the officials in 2020 “because she was in bed recovering after an abortion”:
Brianna McNeal, an Olympic hurdler who last month qualified for Tokyo, said she didn’t open her door to antidoping officials in 2020 because she was in bed recovering after an abortion.
She now feels compelled to speak about her abortion to clear her name.https://t.co/azFkgCXdUn
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 2, 2021
From the ruling:
US sprint hurdler Brianna McNeal will have to serve a 5 year ban for “tampering or attempted tampering with any part of Doping Control” after a CAS ruling today. McNeal’s appeal was dismissed by the panel and all performances between 13/02/2020 and 14/08/2020 disqualified. pic.twitter.com/mQPMfffils
— Andre Lowe (@AndreLoweJA) July 2, 2021
She also altered the date on her medical records, via CBS Sports:
She told the AIU she altered the dates on her medical records after originally writing the wrong date for the surgery date.
She had just qualified for the Tokyo Olympics:
View this post on Instagram
This “could effectively end” her career:
Olympic hurdling champion Brianna McNeal will miss the Tokyo Olympics after her appeal of a five-year ban for violating anti-doping rules was rejected. The ban effectively could end the 29-year-old's career. https://t.co/Ma9fgakxbp
— Post Sports (@PostSports) July 2, 2021
According to the Washington Post, however, she’s a repeat offender and that’s why the ban was so harsh:
The five-year ban is longer than most track doping punishments because McNeal has violated rules before. After leading Team USA to a sweep of the hurdles in Rio, she was banned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for a year after missing three random drug tests in 2016. That caused her to miss the 2017 world championships.
She posted this message thanking her coach, training partners, her husband and Nike but she’s heartbroken over the decision.
“…but I guess my feelings are irrelevant, because the system just took away my career”:
View this post on Instagram
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