This year’s Stawell Gift men’s winner, Olufemi “Femi” Komolafe, has been suspended for 12 months after testing positive for ADHD medication.
The 21-year-old set a new personal best to claim his first major title in April this year, and also claimed the $40,000 prize for placing first in the annual 120-metre handicapped sprint.
Komolafe was given a 5-metre handicap in this year’s race, starting behind all but one of his opponents in the final.
But Sports Integrity Australia has handed down a 12-month ban, confirming Komolafe had tested positive for the banned medication.
ADHD medications are banned in sport for their potential performance-enhancing effects, with athletes only able to use them if they have a medical diagnosis and it is part of treatment.
Stawell Gift organisers have not confirmed whether Komolafe will be asked to return his winnings or whether he will be stripped of his title.
The ban comes as Sports Integrity Australia expresses concerns over the prevalence of athletes using ADHD medications without a formal diagnosis.
In July, its chief executive, Sarah Benson, said she was seeing a “significant number” of inadvertent doping violations from high-level Australian athletes using ADHD medication.
Dr Benson said the consequences are severe for athletes found breaching the rules.
“Since these medications could be abused by athletes for performance improvement reasons, the tough reality is that they are banned under the World Anti-Doping Code if the athlete does not have a formal diagnosis,” Dr Benson said.
“Under the Code, this is true even if they establish their diagnosis after the positive test, and they face a ban of one to four years.”
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