Therese Johaug (W)

athlete, from Norway, born 1988-06-25, 1 sanction

Notes: In September 2016, Johaug was tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug called Clostebol, an anabolic steroid. Johaug said that the substance came from an ointment for her sore, sunburnt lips, which she said she used from 4 to 15 September. Plausibility of this explanation has been widely questioned.[13] The ointment she claims to have used is called Trofodermin. It contains Clostebol. A big red warning label with the word “Doping” is normally printed on its packaging.[14][15][16] Johaug said that the drug was given to her by the team's physician, Fredrik S. Bendiksen. Bendiksen said that he did not notice that it contained a forbidden substance. He resigned his position as a team's physician, but he remains closely associated with elite Norwegian skiing. [17][18][19] Bendiksen had previously worked for Pfizer, the medical company that produces the salve in question.[20] The concentration of clostebol that was measured in her blood is by itself consistent with her explanation of using Trofodermin on her lips right before the test was taken. It is also consistent with using Clostebol in large doses in the weeks before the test. The positive drug test was taken after Johaug did not have any doping control for a period of four months.[21] On 19 October Johaug was suspended by Anti-Doping Norway for two months while the case was investigated. Johaug was later given a 13-month suspension by the Norwegian Olympic Committee. This ban would have expired in time to allow Johaug to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but In March 2017, the International Ski Federation appealed this decision. They argued that the suspension was at the low end of applicable suspensions and failed to reflect the fact that the athlete had missed a printed doping warning label.[22][23] On 22 August 2017 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a decision "in which Ms Johaug is suspended for a period of 18 months commencing on 18 October 2016".[24] As a result of the suspension Johaug was not able to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics. She was participating in track and field events by 2020 including running a solo PR of 31:40.67.