Athletics: Test positive for stimulant, Muhamadou Fall cites accidental exposure

French sprinter Mouhamadou Fall, who tested positive for a stimulant last July, told the French Anti-Doping Agency’s (AFLD) sanctions committee in Paris on Wednesday that he was accidentally infected through dietary supplements. On 28 July 2023 during the French Athletics Championships, the day of his 100m coronation, Fall tested positive for heptaminol.

The controls raise the possibility of a two-year sanction for the banned substance, which would dash the Olympic hopes of the sprinter, a member of the 4 x 100m relay team sixth at the world championships in Budapest in 2023.

Dressed in a white shirt and represented by his three top lawyers Christophe Ayela, Vincent Champetier and Romain Vanney, the 32-year-old sprinter presented a report to AFLD that this abnormal analytical result (AAR) was caused by contamination from six nutritional supplements he was taking at the time of the test.

“One of the products used as a food additive is contaminated with octodrine, without any mention of the presence of this substance,” Professor Jean-Claude Alvarez, the author of the report, explained during a video conference. However, octodrine, found in sample B and also a prohibited substance, is metabolized in the body in the form of heptaminol.

“I can’t be in this situation”

“These are low doses, but we have a lot of contaminated food additives,” added Professor Alvarez, citing research that suggests 25 to 30% of food additives may be contaminated. A test on a volunteer witness found heptaminol concentrations equivalent to Fall’s, a dose “without any pharmacological effect on the athlete,” he insisted.

Antoine Marcelo, a representative of the AFLD panel that initiated the proceedings, said Mr Fall should have “been more vigilant given his level and experience”. Without challenging the contamination theory, he asked for a suspension of fifteen months instead of the required two years. “Despite all the precautions I took, it was impossible for me to be in this situation,” Fall defended. The decision won’t be known for several weeks.

Mouhamadou Fall is also involved in another procedure with the AFLD, which accuses him of three violations of his anti-doping obligations in 2022. Following the acquittal at first instance, AFLD filed an appeal to the Council of State, which is still pending. progress.