U.S. Track & Field Athlete Atlanta Westbrook Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violations

Press Release

3rd November 2017

USADA announced today that Atlanta Westbrook of Fairview, Tenn., an athlete in the sport of track and field, has accepted a four-year sanction for her anti-doping rule violations.

In 2016, USADA obtained non-analytical evidence that Westbrook, 24, used and possessed a dietary supplement, which clearly indicated that it contained ostarine, beginning in approximately August 2015. Ostarine is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policies, and the International Association of Athletics Federations Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Ostarine, also known as MK-2866 and Enobosarm, is a non-FDA approved selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is illegally sold in the United States and worldwide as a performance-enhancing substance. Ostarine is not currently available as a prescription medication in any country, and its unauthorized use may carry serious side effects. Nonetheless, ostarine has been found as a declared and undeclared ingredient in many dietary supplements sold in the United States, which has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warning letters https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/fdainbrief/ucm583021.htm to specific dietary supplement manufacturers stating that ostarine is an unapproved new drug and that selling the drug is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. More information about the risks of ostarine can be found through a USADA athlete advisory https://www.usada.org/growing-evidence-ostarine-athlete-risk/.

In addition to possessing and using ostarine, Westbrook is being sanctioned for tampering and complicity under Articles 2.5 and 2.9 of the Code resulting from evidence that she attempted to cover up anti-doping rule violations by encouraging athletes not to speak with USADA during its investigation.

Westbrook’s four-year period of ineligibility began on October 31, 2017, the date she admitted and accepted a sanction for her anti-doping rule violations. In addition, Westbrook has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to August 1, 2015, the approximate date she first ordered a prohibited substance, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018