The ITU announced today , from their headquarters Vancouver , Canada that the Brazilian triathlete , Mariana Ohata has been banned from competition for six years after the discovery of an anti-doping rule violation following an out of competition doping control test in Iowa, USA back in June 26th 2009. The ban takes effect from October 2nd 2009 and the athlete is barred from “entering or participating in any competition or activity authorized by ITU, its National Federations (NFs) and/or any other signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code.”
This is Ohata’s second recorded doping offence. In 2002, Ohata was given a 60 week ban from competition by the Brazilian Sport Court of the Brazilian Triathlon Confederation
Her anti-doping rule violation was a result of an adverse analytical finding of furosemide . Furosemide is “ a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, Section S5 - Diuretics and Masking Agents.” Ohata elected to have the second B sample opened and analysed after a positive A sample result for the substance and 21st August the analytical tests proved positive for the presence of the drug in her urine.
Furosemide is more commonly abused in sports where appearance and a slender body shape is a requirement, such as ballet and gymnastics. It has been abused by jockeys for temporary body weight loss, but is believed to be most widely misused in body building to produce greater body definition and emphasise muscle tone. The drug induces vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration and because it dilutes the urine it is misused to mask the presence of anabolic steroids, other performance enhancing drugs ( such as anabolic steroids) and their metabolic equivalents. It is sometimes marketed under the name Lasix ( after last six hours) referring the duration of its action. The drug weakens muscle and mental acuity and is therefore not performance enhancing in terms of a sport like triathlon It has actually resulted in a number of sudden deaths. Back in January 2001 a Russian (World top three) skier received the first ban in the history of his sport (a two year ban) for its misuse following a positive test at a World Cup event at Innsbruck and a Bulgarian weightlifter was the first athlete to be disqualified at the 2000 Sidney Olympics for its use and was deprived of a silver medal.
33 year old Ohata was a former member of the Brazilian National Swim Team, and shot up through the rankings in 2003. she is best known a great swimmer and runner. Her career highlights included 2003 Madrid ITU World Cup - 2nd, 2003 Edmonton ITU World Cup - 4th 2003 , Ishigaki ITU World Cup - 5th 2003 Brasilia ITU International Triathlon. She is pictured here at the 2006 BG world Cup Triathlon, Salford quays where she came home second to New Zealand’s Sam Warriner.
Previously sanctioned Triathletes:
Triathlon has an excellent track record in terms of the high number of ethical and clean athletes versus a proportionally few incidences of headline cases of abuse. Back in November 2008 the ITU upheld a 2 year ban, initially imposed by her own Federation, on the Austrian Lisa Hutthaler following an out of competition test from Vienna in July 2008which revealed misuse of the performance enhancing recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) a drug which has a similar effect to illicit blood transfusions which boost the body’s red blood cell count increasing the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity. She was also accused of attempting to bribe a laboratory assistant to ensure that the B-sample from a dope test returned negative.
The same substance saw Swiss triathlete Brigitte McMahon, first ever winner of an Olympic Gold in Triathlon , Sydney 2000 , when she was 33, sanction for misuse of EPO also in an out of competition test in June 2005. Brigitte maintains that she did not take any doping until well after the 2004 Athens Olympics where she came 10th and that she did it for therapeutic reasons only. After the positive test she was immediately removed from the Swiss national team and was facing a two-year ban from triathlon. Brigitte gamefully faced the Swiss media and her critics to explain the circumstances and immediately then retired from the sport. Although there had been a public uproar particularly in Australia where the local heroine, and favourite to win Michellie Jones had been pipped for Olympic gold during the run in , in front of the Opera house by McMahon, Jones remained totally professional and typically gracious in never publicly questioning McMahon’s right to the Sydney gold.
Curiously , by co-incidence , Brigitte McMahon , who in fact has a degree in bio-chemistry, was racing in my first ever coverage of a triathlon as a sports photographer, back in 2004, in the ITU World Cup Salford Quays and the first elite Triathlete I’d ever had a friendly dialogue with on first sight and after which we developed a friendship. I never have condoned drug cheating in any sport and neither has in fact has Brigitte. We have to be very clear black and white as a universal rule to maintain the integrity of sport and there can rarely be any excuse or genuine mitigating circumstances although perhaps there must be degrees of intention to cheat and flatter. McMahon always regretted what she has always put down to a single “foolish error of judgement” during a period of intense family and personal crisis ,that directly impacted on her physical and emotional well being, and to disastrous independent medical advice.
Without going into too much private detail I know enough first hand and therefore can at least empathise to an extent , as I am sure every woman in sport can , with a woman who sought a very temporary remedy , between competition, to a sudden alarming drop in form during and after a team training camp, ( fearing to seek the advice of the team doctor for fear of being dropped from the squad) and then having been independently diagnosed with an abnormally low red blood cell count . Emotionally and physically drained by personal events beyond her control, she feared also feared for her ability to support her very young family following a sudden and no doubt traumatic change in status to a single parent. In fact, over the years since then I have been delighted to witness the way that her life away from the direct and constant pressure of elite professional racing has changed for the better where the quality of her family life, enjoying quality time her kids has given her a new sense of purpose. She is still involved in the sport both indirectly as a corporate fitness coach but also competes in Ironman distance events as an age grouper.
