U.S. Karate Athlete Joane Orbon Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation
Press Release
14th August 2019
USADA announced today that Joane Orbon, of San Jose, Calif., an athlete in the sport of karate, has accepted a nine-month sanction after testing positive for a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplement.
Orbon, 24, tested positive for di-hydroxy-LGD-4033, a metabolite of LGD-4033, as the result of an in‐competition urine sample she provided at the Senior Team Trials on January 19, 2019. LGD‐4033 is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policies, and the World Karate Federation Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.
Following notification of her positive test, Orbon provided USADA with information about a dietary supplement product she was using at the time of the relevant sample collection. Although no prohibited substances were listed on the supplement label, analysis conducted by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, indicated that the product contained LGD-4033. The presence of an undisclosed prohibited substance in a product is regarded as contamination and the determination that an athlete’s positive test was caused by a contaminated product may result in a reduced sanction.
The product that caused her positive test was added to the list of high-risk supplements maintained on USADA’s online dietary supplement safety education and awareness resource – Supplement 411 (www.Supplement411.org).
Athletes and other sport stakeholders are reminded that dietary supplements sold in the U.S. do not receive any pre-market safety or efficacy reviews by government authorities; thus, an increased level of due diligence is necessary to challenge the reasons for use and understand the risks of a positive anti-doping test and/or an adverse health event.
Orbon’s nine-month period of ineligibility began on January 19, 2019, the date her positive sample was collected. In addition, Orbon has been disqualified from competitive results obtained on and subsequent to January 19, 2019, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
In an effort to aid athletes, as well as support team members such as parents and coaches, in understanding the rules applicable to them, USADA provides comprehensive instruction on its website on the testing process and prohibited substances, how to obtain permission to use a necessary medication, and the risks and dangers of taking supplements ,as well as performance-enhancing and recreational drugs.
If athletes choose to use supplements despite the known risks, USADA has always recommended that athletes use only dietary supplements that have been certified by a third-party program that tests for substances prohibited in sport. USADA currently recognizes NSF Certified for Sport as the program best suited for athletes to reduce the risk from supplements.
