Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2102768/sealed-kiss-olympic-champion-gil-roberts-cleared-doping
Sport/ Other Sport

Sealed with a kiss: Olympic champion Gil Roberts cleared of doping

Rio de Janeiro US men’s 4x400 metre relay gold medallist ingested a banned substance by kissing his girlfriend

Gil Roberts celebrates winning the men's 4x400 metre relay final at the 2016 Olympic Games. Photos: AFP

Gil Roberts, who won Olympic Games gold with the US men’s 4x400 metre relay team in Rio de Janeiro, was cleared of doping after an arbitrator found he ingested a banned substance by kissing his girlfriend.

According to a final US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) report, the ruling that cleared Roberts of wrongdoing after his girlfriend, Alex Salazar, took medicine for a sinus infection that contained the banned masking agent probenecid.

In the weeks before the March 24 positive test by Roberts, Salazar and her family had visited rural India, where she received medicine for a sinus infection that included the banned substance.

Because she had problems swallowing pills, Salazar took apart the capsules and swallowed the medicine inside with water.

She returned home and saw Roberts while still taking the medication Moxylong, which contained probenecid.

Lashawn Merritt (left), Gil Roberts, Tony McQuay and Arman Hall celebrate on the podium in Rio de Janeiro.
Lashawn Merritt (left), Gil Roberts, Tony McQuay and Arman Hall celebrate on the podium in Rio de Janeiro.

“Whenever they were together, they kissed frequently and passionately,” the Usada report said.

That included the day of the random doping test, when his urine sample was taken in the afternoon about three hours after she had last taken the medicine.

“Roberts had dated Ms Salazar for two years and surely had kissed her before without being charged with a doping violation,” the report said.

“Thus, for Roberts, it must have been like lightning out of a clear blue sky for him to learn that by kissing his girlfriend this time that he was exposing himself to a prohibited substance.”

Roberts was cleared last month, although the kissing background detail was only revealed this week.

The timing allowed Roberts to compete in the 400 metres at last month’s US track and field championships, in which Roberts qualified for the world championships next month in London by finishing second in 44.22 seconds.