Polish tennis star Iga Świātek resolved the issue of her one-month suspension after a failed doping test.
After the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced in a statement on Thursday, November 28 that Świątek, 23, had accepted her one-month ban under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program — after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ ) — he explained 2 . tennis player of the world “difficult” situation in Instagram Reel.
“I want to be transparent with you and I want you to understand,” Świątek said in the video, noting that she was “finally allowed” to talk about her failed drug test, collected on Aug. 12.
“So I want to share with you right now what has become the worst experience of my life,” the athlete captioned the video, explaining that she had undergone a “rigorous ITIA process” in the past two and a half months since being notified of her positive test result September 12.
Świątek said the procedure “confirmed my innocence” and claimed she had “never heard” of the substance she tested positive for before the test came back negative.
Iga Światek of Poland in action against during the Billie Jean King Cup final.
Robert Prange/Getty
“The only positive doping test of my career, which showed an incredibly low level of a banned substance that I had never heard of before, called into question everything I had worked hard for all my life,” Świątek wrote.
She said she was “shocked” after the positive result came back. “And this whole situation really upset me,” she continued and added: “At first I couldn’t understand how this was even possible.”
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“Both me and my team had to deal with enormous stress and anxiety,” said the Polish tennis star. “Now everything is carefully explained and with a clean slate I can return to what I love most.”
Świątek thanked her fans for sticking by her through the suspension. “Without my supporters, I’m not sure I would have had the strength to carry on and keep fighting. Now I’ve fought the hardest battle of my life, and I hope you’ll stick with me and continue to support me.”
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Ultimately, Świątek claimed that her positive test was due to a contaminated amount of melatonin she was taking for sleep problems.
“We reacted immediately and cooperated with ITIA,” explained Świątek. “The concentration detected, which was extremely low, suggested — or made it obvious — that either the sample was contaminated, or that the supplement or drug I was taking was contaminated, which is why we focused on running the tests.”
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After confirming that the melatonin had been contaminated during production, Świątek said, “It was a shock to hear, but it also explained a lot.”
The ITIA agreed with that finding after conducting “investigations and analyzes from two WADA-accredited laboratories,
“The ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated over-the-counter drug (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland, which the player was taking for jet lag and sleep problems, and that the breach was therefore not intentional,” the agency said in to his statement of November 28.
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Source: HIS Education