Triathlete Imogen Simmonds has not competed competitively since December amid a doping suspension but she has managed to avoid a long-term ban despite a positive test
Triathlon star Imogen Simmonds has expressed her “indescribable amounts of relief” after avoiding a doping ban despite testing positive for a banned substance. Simmonds, 32, was initially suspended by International Testing Agency (ITA) earlier this year after returning a positive test for ligandrol.
As per the ITA, the drug is ‘a selective androgen receptor modulator which promotes muscle growth and enhances physical performance’ and is banned both in and out of competition. But it has been announced that Simmonds is now free to return to competition after a ‘no guilt or negligence’ verdict was reached following a full investigation.
“It is with indescribable amounts of relief that I announce the ITA has decided on a ‘no guilt or negligence’ verdict regarding my ADRV from an out-of-competition doping control test on the 8th of December 2024,” Simmonds posted on social media. “I was informed of the presence of Ligandrol in a urine sample on the 5th of February 2025, which the ITA have ruled was due to sexual contamination.
“At that time, the world I had spent my entire professional career building around me crumbled. The loss of identity I felt and the evaporation of my dignity has caused me a huge amount of pain and turmoil.
“No doubt this news of a ‘not guilty’ verdict will not reverberate in the same way as the initial news, but to me, this verdict means everything and proving my innocence has been what has kept me going.”
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A statement from the ITA added: “Over the course of the results management proceedings, the athlete was able to establish that the presence of ligandrol in her sample was due to inadvertent contamination through intimate contact with her partner who was taking supplements containing the prohibited substance without her knowledge.
“The athlete was also able to establish that she bore No Fault or Negligence for the ADRV and, therefore, no period of ineligibility is imposed and the athlete is free to compete effective immediately.
“As the sample was collected out-of-competition, there are no competitive results to disqualify. The athlete accepted the finding of the ADRV, and the matter is considered as concluded from the perspective of IRONMAN and the ITA.”
The matter can still be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But Simmonds will now turn her attention back to competing in the triathlon.
She has 10 career wins to her name and was seventh in the PTO’s World rankings in 2024 but has now tumbled down to 124th. Her last outing was a fourth-placed finish IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand on December 14 last year.
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