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| Vanessa Sarno will miss two years of competition as she serves an anti-doping ban. PSC-POC Pool (file photo) |
MAKATI--Weightlifting sensation Vanessa Sarno will miss two years of competition as she violated global anti-doping rules.
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella confirmed on Tuesday that the former Asian champ accepted the ban slapped on her by the International Weightlifting Federation.
In a statement by the International Testing Agency obtained by Dugout Philippines, the 21-year-old weightlifter "committed three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period."
"The athlete did not challenge the ADRV (anti-doping rule violation) and agreed with the consequences proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved via an acceptance of consequences," the ITA further said.
Article 2.4 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules states, "Athletes included in a registered testing pool have the obligation to provide daily whereabouts as well as a specific daily 60-minute time slot where they will be available for testing. The purpose is to allow anti-doping organisations to locate athletes for unannounced out-of-competition testing. Any combination of three missed tests (which relate to the athletes’ unavailability with respect to their 60-minute time slot) and/or filing failures (which are caused by the athletes’ failure to provide accurate whereabouts) committed within a twelve-month period amounts to an ADRV."
Puentevella, though, clarified that Sarno had to attend to personal matters, which was why she missed her third scheduled doping test, and insisted she did not fail any doping test.
Sarno began serving her ban on Aug. 4 and will sit out until Aug. 3, 2027.
Once she is cleared to play again, Sarno, groomed as one of the heirs apparent of former Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, can begin her quest to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
