U.S. Olympic gold medalist Gil Roberts banned 16 months for doping

On Thursday, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced the 16-month suspension of 2016 Olympic 4x400m gold medallist Gil Roberts after testing positive for two banned selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs).

He was a part of the U.S. men’s 4×400 metres team that won Olympic gold at Rio 2016. Roberts ran the third leg before passing the baton off to Lashawn Merritt, who secured the gold for Team USA. The following year, the same 4x400m relay team won silver at the 2017 World Championships in London.

Roberts, 33, accepted a 16-month sanction after an out-of-competition urine sample collected on May 19 came back positive for andarine and ostarine. Ostarine is mainly used for fat burning and body recomposition, whereas andarine is used for preserving muscle mass.

Roberts argued that he was taking a dietary supplement that did not list the banned SARMs in its ingredients. USADA accepted this, adding the supplement to its “high-risk list,” which reduced the length of his ban from three years to 16 months.

His ban has also been backdated to June 3, the date Roberts was provisionally suspended. Roberts has not competed since the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

USADA stresses that all athletes are responsible for what enters their bodies and should do extensive research before taking unknown supplements. “SARMs are banned at all times and have similar properties to anabolic steroids, including aiding muscle growth or retention,” reads the USADA statement.

This is not the first time Roberts has failed a drug test, but it is his first ban. In 2017, Roberts tested positive for probenecid, a diuretic and masking agent. He successfully appealed the ruling, claiming that he had ingested the banned substance by kissing his girlfriend.

posted Friday December 9th
by Marley Dickinson