Doping scandals no longer surprise anyone. Athletes are caught on illegal drugs every day, and there is no escape from this. However, sometimes the real oddities happen.

One of these stories was the Jamaican runner Alex Wilson, who represented Switzerland at international competitions. The day before, the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) suspended him from sports for four years.

The record holder was disqualified because of a piece of beef!

Steak in Vegas

Before the Tokyo Olympics, the bronze medalist of the 2018 European Championship held a training camp in the USA. There, Wilson did the unbelievable – he ran the hundred-meter dash in 9.84 seconds and thereby set a European record. However, the Swiss rocket was not allowed to the Games. A banned substance was found in his blood.

Alex Wilson (center) / Photo: © Stephen Pond / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The drug that the doping officers found is called trenbolone. At that time, he had long been on the banned list. However, its use has never been limited to sports alone. Trenbolone is also a kind of growth stimulant that is used in farming – it is injected into animals. This is what Wilson stressed in his defense. He claimed that he ate a large steak in a Las Vegas restaurant – and it was the “contaminated” meat that was to blame.

For me, this is the only convincing explanation. Moreover, the detected amount of trenbolone was extremely small, the Swiss edition of Watson quotes Wilson.

Alas, any dose of trenbolone leads to a ban, and Wilson had no chance. Now the sprinter is in serious trouble.

Ran for four years

At first, Wilson was given only a temporary disqualification. Then the Swiss doping authority even removed it. But then WADA intervened, which is never on the side of the athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to CAS, and the court upheld the plaintiff.

Alex Wilson / Photo: © imago sportfoto / imago sportfotodienst / Global Look Press

Now it seems that Wilson’s career can be put an end to. The sprinter will turn 32 in September, and the court soldered him a disqualification for four whole years! Even if the athlete files an appeal, all this will drag on for many years.

The doping control system is still extremely imperfect. Wilson, who probably just had a bad dinner at a restaurant, is essentially equated with those who deliberately use illegal drugs. Considering the dose of trenbolone found in his blood, the court’s decision is laughable and unnecessarily cruel. A one-year ban could still be understood, but killing an athlete’s career without 100% evidence of his guilt is overkill.