The Czech Republic press announced this morning that walker Anežka Drahotová (CZE) was informed by the Czech Republic Anti-Doping Committee of a positive anti-doping violation.
The information notes that the sample analyzed refers to a collection that took place on July 31, 2018, a few days before Drahotová's participation in the European Athletics Championships held in Berlin where she won the silver medal. In a statement sent to the press by the athlete's lawyer, Jan Štovícek (the same lawyer who defended the well-known Czech cyclist Roman Kreuziger, suspended in 2014 for doping due to suspicious values in the biological passport in 2011 and 2012, and at the end authorized to compete following appeals presented) the walker pleads not guilty and adds that she will no longer participate in any competition until the matter is fully clarified. In the same document, Anežka Drahotová says she is shocked and does not understand what is happening.
However, the news portal Idnes.cz reveals that the athlete's notification results from irregularities in the biological passport. The samples remain preserved and have been subjected to analysis with new techniques. Tomáš Vávra, Deputy Director of the Czech Republic's Anti-Doping Committee, said that "the evidence is clear".
The documents has already been sent to the Czech Athletics Federation, which should establish the corresponding disciplinary process for the athlete and suspend it as a precaution.
Anežka Drahotová has yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games and it is therefore assumed that she will not compete in Tokyo.
The notification to the athlete of the irregularity in the biological passport states that a substance of group S1 (which are anabolic substances) was detected in a urine sample. But it has not been specified what substance it is. Group S1 contains a large number of very different substances in terms of chemical structure and biological effects.
To the questions from the Idnes.cz interview, lawyer Jan Štovícek replied as follows:
In your opinion, could the fluctuation of the biological passport be related to the final preparation for the European Championships?
If I knew what substance it is, I could say more about it, but in this state of knowledge it is impossible to comment.
For example, didn't Anežka Drahotová tell you that they were changing dietary supplements at the time?
I don't have that information yet. Almost three years have passed, Anežka herself must first reconstruct how her preparation went back then.
Have you already contacted coach Piták, who then managed his training?
We will definitely contact the coach and other people who may bring us some information. But for now, it's really useless when we don't really know what to ask for.
Once you know a specific substance, how can you counteract a positive test?
For example, it will be necessary to look at what the athlete consumed three years ago. It could be a contaminated product, the substance in question could be in a drink or in bars. We also need to examine whether you have received treatment. It happens that a drug is applied that will affect your sample. But all of this is now crystal ball divination.