Advertisement
File photo of shot put. Shutterstock
Doping

Irish national champion hit with two-year ban after failing doping test

Tomas Rauktys, 28, tested positive after his wins at the Senior Track and Field Championships in July.

IRELAND’S NATIONAL SHOT put and discus champion has been banned for two years after he failed a doping test.

Tomas Rauktys tested positive for the prohibited substance stanozolol after winning two national titles at the Woodies DIY Senior Track and Field Championships in July.

Rauktys, who is from Lithuania but competes for Clonliffe Harriers in Dublin, has been stripped of both titles and banned until August 2015.

The 28-year-old told the hearing that he took the pills in a supplement powder prepared for him by his wife, but insisted that he alone was to blame for the positive test.

“I am guilty myself for what happened,” he said in a statement. “I sincerely regret that this happened.”

In his evidence Rauktys, who also won the national discus title in 2012, said that he takes between 27 and 34 supplements a day crushed into powder form.

In late 2012 he was given a small bottle of stanozolol, containing 12-14 pills, from an acquaintance. Although he knew the substance was illegal, he kept the pills in case he wanted to use them in a bodybuilding career following his retirement from athletics.

“He asked his wife to prepare his mix of supplements so that he could save time and instructed her to include what remained of several substances into one mix,” the disciplinary panel’s decision read.

His wife then prepared the mixture and included the stanozolol pills.

He acknowledged that his wife did not know what she was mixing, as she does not have much experience with supplements, and that it was unsafe to ask her to prepare his blended mix of supplements.

He realised before the Event that he had ingested stanozolol.

Under article 9.1 of the Irish Anti-Doping Rules, Rauktys’ results at the National Championships were disqualified.

He is suspended until 14 August 2015.

Read the disciplinary panel’s decision in full here >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
27
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.