Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall Stripped of Gold Medal After Testing Positive for Cannabis
The recent positive result of a drug test has caused a national title to be taken away from an American Olympic winner.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced on Tuesday that it has penalized Tara Davis-Woodhall, of Fayetteville, Arkansas after she tested positive for cannabis. The sample was given after she competed at the 2023 USATF Indoor Championships earlier this year on February 17, 2023.
Davis-Woodhall was stripped of the medal she won at the competition that took place in Albuquerque, NM on that date in February. She was the winner of a gold medal with a leap of 22 feet and 11 inches. She has accepted a suspension of one month.
Based on the 2021 Code, THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is classified under a special category that allows a 3-month suspension to be reduced to only a one-month penalty under two circumstances. That the athlete confirm that their use of the substance had taken place when they weren’t in competition and was not related to sports performance. And if the athlete satisfactorily completes a treatment program approved by The United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Based on Davis-Woodhall’s use of cannabis occurring while she was out of competition and was unrelated to sports performance, and because she also successfully completed a substance of abuse treatment program regarding her use of cannabis.
Davis-Woodhall, who participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, was disqualified on March 21, 2023, the date of her provisional suspension. She lost her national title because she tested positive after the drug test that was administered on February 17, 2023.
Sha’Carri Richardson was infamously suspended for thirty days after she tested positive for marijuana in 2021. After winning the 100-meter event at the U.S. Olympic trials that year, she was left off the relay team for the 2021 Olympics.
In the press release sent out by USADA, it requested that the World Anti-Doping Agency treat the drug marijuana in a ” fairer and more effective way.”
“WADA seeks input on each year’s updated version of the Prohibited List. USADA has advocated and will continue to advocate to WADA, the rule maker, to treat marijuana in a fairer and more effective way to identify true in-competition use.”
Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall Stripped of Gold Medal After Testing Positive for Cannabis
