Adverse Analytical Finding: Christian Andersen
In compliance with the reporting obligations of the ISA Anti-Doping Rules, the ISA reports that Stand-Up-Paddle (“SUP”) Athlete Mr. Christian Andersen’s gold medal obtained at the 2019 ISA World SUP and Paddle Championships (“Junior Race Boys” category – the “Event”) has been disqualified. The disqualification is a consequence of an anti-doping rule violation for the presence of clostebol detected in the sample provided by Mr. Andersen in the scope of the Event on 27 November 2019. Clostebol, prohibited as per the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”) Prohibited List, was detected in trace amounts in the Athlete’s sample. The case was handled independently by the International Testing Agency (“ITA”), a not-for-profit organisation which provides independent expert anti-doping services and to which the ISA has delegated the implementation of its anti-doping program. Mr. Andersen was able to establish that his anti-doping rule violation was not intentional nor linked to undue performance enhancement purposes and that a likely source of the prohibited substance was due to environmental contamination. The sanction was imposed by the ITA (on behalf of ISA) and with the agreement of WADA. Considering the principle of strict liability enshrined in the ISA Anti-Doping Rules and World Anti-Doping Code, according to which an athlete is liable whenever a banned substance is detected in his/her sample, regardless of the Athlete’s level of fault or intent, Mr. Andersen was ineligible to participate in ISA events until 26 May 2021 and the results obtained at the Event are disqualified. The ISA will not comment any further on this case.
