After World Triathlon announced to sanction the Russian Triathlon Federation due to several doping cases, this week they announced that also an Austrian triathlete gets suspended because of a doping violation. Romana Slavinec will be suspended for a period of fourteen months after she tested positive on Fenoterol at an in-competition control during the World Triathlon Winter Cup in Asiago (Feb. 19, 2021), where she finished second. She also tested positive at the ÖSTM Winter Triathlon (Mar. 6, 2021).
Her suspension was confirmed to start on Apr. 8, 2021, and it will end on Jun. 7, 2022. The A-sample of Slavinec tested showed a presence of the substance Fenoterol. Slavinec didn’t ask for testing of her B-samples.
Slavinec failed to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) in advance. The substance Fenoterol is used for people with asthma as it reverses airway obstruction. It’s usually used through an inhaler. World Triathlon explains: “ The athlete failed to apply for a TUE in advance to the IF (World Triathlon) in accordance with international regulations (World Triathlon Anti-Doping Rules 2021), although she would have been obliged to do so as an international level athlete. At national level, the athlete could not apply for a TUE in advance because she was not a National Testing Pool Athlete. However, the retroactive application for a TUE was also rejected by the Medical Commission of NADA Austria, as it could not be clearly explained by the athlete or the physician she had consulted why the medicament Berodual DAE, which contains the prohibited substance “Fenoterol”, was prescribed and not an alternative medicine that was nevertheless permitted.”
Given the positive doping test, all Slavinec’s racing results since Feb. 19, 2021, have been annulled.
