Iga Swiatek doping ruling will not be appealed by WADA

Iga Swiatek doping ruling will not be appealed by WADA

/ 06:49 PM January 20, 2025

Iga Swiatek Australian Open 2025

Iga Swiatek of Poland waves after defeating Eva Lys of Germany in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

MELBOURNE, Australia — Iga Swiatek’s one-month suspension for failing a drug test will not be appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency because her explanation “is plausible,” WADA announced on Monday.

WADA released its decision just minutes after Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player, sealed a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Eva Lys to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Article continues after this advertisement

Unlike the Swiatek case, WADA did appeal the exoneration of current men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner and a hearing is scheduled to be heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, in April.

FEATURED STORIES

READ: Australian Open: Iga Swiatek crushes Eva Lys to reach quarters

Sinner was not suspended because the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) determined he was not negligent for two positive tests for an anabolic steroid in March.

The resolution of Swiatek’s case was made public by the ITIA in late November. She already had been sidelined provisionally, missing three tournaments in October, and finished her ban during the sport’s offseason.

Article continues after this advertisement

“WADA sought advice from external legal counsel, who considered that the athlete’s contamination explanation was well evidenced, that the ITIA decision was compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code, and that there was no reasonable basis to appeal it to the CAS,” Monday’s statement from WADA said.

Article continues after this advertisement

Swiatek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, a heart medication known as TMZ.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: Why did Iga Swiatek get one-month doping ban?

Swiatek failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, and the ITIA accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional, and caused by the contamination of the non-prescription medication melatonin that she was taking for issues with jet lag and sleeping.

The ITIA said it determined her level of fault was “at the lowest end of the range for no significant fault or negligence.”

Article continues after this advertisement

That “scenario,” WADA said Monday, “is plausible and that there would be no scientific grounds to challenge it.”

On the eve of the Australian Open, Swiatek described the initial period she was sidelined, which she chalked up at the time to personal reasons, as “pretty chaotic” and said, “For sure, it wasn’t easy; it was probably, like, the worst time in my life.”

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

“It got pretty awkward. Like, we chose for the first tournament to say ‘personal reasons’ because we honestly thought the suspension is going to be lifted soon,” Swiatek said in Melbourne. “From the beginning it was obvious that something was contaminated because the level of this substance in my urine was so low that it had to be contamination.”

TAGS: Iga Swiatek, WADA

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2025 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.