Where Did the Clenbuterol Come From?
According to this Orange County Register review of the case, it’s a mystery…
World-record-setting swimmer Jessica Hardy kept a decidedly low profile in the months after a positive drug test knocked her out of the 2008 Olympic Games. Neither Hardy nor her family spoke publicly about the case in which the Orange native was banned from competing for two years after testing positive for clenbuterol.
Which is why Hardy said she was blindsided by a defamation lawsuit that dietary supplements maker AdvoCare filed against her in U.S. District Court in Texas Jan. 16.
AdvoCare officials said they filed the suit after learning two drug testing labs, hired by Hardy’s family, had found clenbuterol in a supplement drink mix the company had provided Hardy.
The lawsuit was the opening shot in a high stakes legal battle for Hardy and AdvoCare that promises to be closely watched the international sports community and a supplements industry that reports nearly $20-billion in annual U.S. sales, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
This is hardly the first time an athlete has tested positive for a banned substance, and laid the blame on a contaminated/adulterated supplement. But is it just an excuse…or is there a legit reason? It’s not like we haven’t seen supps contaminated with prescription drugs before; on the flip side, some athletes also try to beat the system.
It’s tough to discern who’s innocent and who isn’t, in this case. As an MLM, I have little sympathy for AdvoCare, although – under the circumstances – I have a hard time believing the supps they gave Hardy were deliberately spiked… they had an endorsement contract w/her and knew she would be tested. However, I have an equally hard time believing Hardy would take Clen on her own: it has a verrry long half life (34 – 35 hours), so remains in the body for a long time after ingestion. While Hardy doesn’t sound like she’s the sharpest knife in the drawer (“I thought it was an equivalent to a Gatorade…I put it in my water bottle and went around drinking it. It tasted like Gatorade.”), she couldn’t be THAT dim.
A contaminated ingredient from one of AdvoCare’s suppliers, perhaps? Hard to know… a lot of supp ingredients are sourced from China these days, so anything’s possible. Likewise, I’m assuming the testing procedures were adequate, but that’s also something that won’t be nailed down until Hardy’s case goes to trial.
I’ll be interested to see how the dueling lawsuits play out, as the case looks like it could be another black eye for the supplement industry as a whole.
