“I’m super happy,” Jean-Claude Alvarez repeats again and again. This Tuesday morning, the toxicologist and the entire team formed to ensure the defense of fencer Ysaora Thibus called each other to celebrate the news remotely. Testing positive for ostarine in January during a competition in France, the foil fencer was exonerated by the anti-doping disciplinary tribunal of the International Fencing Federation. A decision which, barring appeal, leaves this matter behind and allows it to turn entirely to the Paris Olympic Games. The expert, who works at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine), explains how the file of the Olympic team vice-champion was managed.
What is your reaction after this announcement from the international federation?
JEAN-CLAUDE ALVAREZ. This is very good news, I’m really happy. We’re talking about a big victory there. But finally, we manage to ensure that contamination is not assimilated to doping.
How did the audition go a week ago?
It lasted about three hours by videoconference, where I spoke with an expert from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Our aim was to show that the case of Ysaora Thibus could only be an accidental contamination coming from her companion (the former American fencer Race Imboden). So what did we do? We reproduced, in detail, at their home the events of January 14 on February 21: the same time of taking the product he consumed, the kisses exchanged that day, etc. And in the end, if we take it at 10:30 p.m. as was the case, I arrive at the same concentration of ostarine. We conducted and published this study, it was scientific proof that we provided them.
What was the reaction of your interlocutors?
I was told that we couldn’t rule out the fact that she just took a dose. (Ironic) But yes, athletes are idiots who are not surrounded and don’t know what they are doing if they take drugs. Overall, they could not dispute that the contamination was certain. She had 13 nanograms per milliliter of urine. And as luck would have it, I arrive at the same rate. It was absolutely no use to him. Studies, carried out in therapeutic settings, show that at least one milligram of ostarine is needed (1 nanogram is 0.000001 milligram) for there to be an effect. So there was absolutely none there. But to know that, you have to find out and not just read publications about doping.
Are you dreading a call?
I don’t know, we’ll see what the competent authorities decide (WADA, the FIE or the French anti-doping agency can still decide to relaunch the file). But overall, I think we need to stop bothering the infected and track down the real dopers (Professor Alvarez has already helped to reduce the sanction targeting former world number one tennis player Simona Halep from four years to nine months) .
How did Ysaora Thibus receive the news?
I think she’s delighted. Poor thing, she had nothing to do with it. I also think of his companion who was defeated when he came to explain this file to my office. He took this product in secret. It wasn’t very smart but it wasn’t doping.
