The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned the four-year doping suspension of French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus, ruling that her positive test for a banned substance resulted from kissing her then-boyfriend, American fencer Race Imboden.
Thibus, who won a silver medal in team foil at the Tokyo Olympics, tested positive for ostarine—a prohibited muscle-building drug—during a competition in Paris in January 2024.
CAS determined that there was no intentional doping, finding it scientifically plausible that repeated kissing over several days with Imboden, who was using ostarine at the time, caused accidental contamination.
The court dismissed an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had pushed for a four-year ban.
Instead, CAS upheld the earlier decision by the International Fencing Federation’s doping disciplinary tribunal (DDT), which had cleared Thibus of any fault.
In a statement, CAS said, “The Panel ruled that the anti-doping violation for the presence of ostarine was not intentional and that Ms. Thibus bears no fault or negligence.”
The ruling echoes a similar case from 2009 involving French tennis player Richard Gasquet, who was cleared after testing positive for cocaine, which he attributed to kissing someone at a nightclub.
Following the initial tribunal decision, Thibus competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing fifth in the team foil event on home soil.
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