Triathlete blames sex for positive doping test as she releases statement on ‘intimate relationship’

TRIATHLETE Imogen Simmonds has blamed sex after testing positive for a banned substance. The world No7 has been provisionally suspended after a doping test flagged Ligandrol in her system. The drug is banned by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) as it mimics testosterone.

Simmonds, who strongly denies any wrongdoing, tested positive for the substance on December 8. The Swiss international protests her innocence, claiming the drug was transferred into her body via sex with her long-time partner, who unknown to her was taking Ligandrol.

Simmonds adds that the amount found was "a quantity equivalent to a dash of salt in an Olympic-size swimming pool and would have never provided me with any performance-enhancing benefit". In a lengthy statement on Instagram, she wrote: "I was stunned and devastated when the test came back positive for a metabolite of Ligandrol at picogram levels.

"I had no idea what the substance was or how it could have got into my system. "Upon receiving the news, I immediately hired experienced counsel. "Through investigation and research, it was discovered that, unknown to me, my long-time partner had been ingesting Ligandrol to help improve his own personal physique around the time of the positive test.

"At the instruction of my legal team, my partner and I immediately submitted to a hair sample analysis that confirmed I have never taken Ligandrol (my hair sample came back negative). "My partner had done so over the period in question (his hair sample came back positive).

"As a result, considering the timeline of events: specifically, that I had a negative doping control test six days earlier and 22 days after, and that my partner and I engaged in intimate relations both the day of and day before my 8 December 2024 doping control test.

"My legal team and I have concluded that this substance got into my system via the transfer of bodily fluid. "We have hired the best expert in the world to assist us with proving my case and will provide our evidence to Ironman/the ITA within their stated deadlines and according to their procedures.

"I have been tested regularly both in and out of competition for the last several years and have always returned negative results, which is why this case has been a nightmare for me and something I never imagined I’d have to deal with in my lifetime.

"I take my anti-doping obligations seriously and am a true believer in clean sport, so to have my name be associated with a banned substance is heartbreaking. "While I am not the first athlete to have this happen to them, I likely won’t be the last, so I hope my story can help raise awareness of this form of contamination.".