Aussie Shayna Jack Taps Into ‘Cocaine Kiss’ Defense For Positive Test

It’s been almost 6 months since Aussie sprint star Shayna Jack revealed her positive test for banned substance Ligandrol. The test results forced her to shockingly withdraw from this year’s World Championships before later revealing the positive result was the reason for her removal from the Dolphins’ roster.

The 21-year-old is currently suspended from competition pending the outcome of her case, although a finalized hearing isn’t expected for another 6-7 months. 

At the end of this post, you can refresh yourself on the overall timeline that has unfolded with Jack’s case thus far.

Jack could be facing up to a maximum 4-year ban unless she can prove some degree of unintentional ingestion in the eyes of the Australian Sport Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the sanctioning body. Successfully doing so could reduce the maximum ban down to 2 years.

Jack has maintained her innocence since her positive test results were brought to light, stating in August of this year that, “I’m not going to stop until I prove my innocence. I’ll fight to get myself back into the pool because that’s my dream.”

In a recent interview with The Sunday Project, the St. Peters Western athlete said, “I had a lot of people come forward and tell me that they take this drug. Just general people who go to the gym. Some people were using it as recovery … they took it as a drop.”

Jack maintains that “I actually hadn’t taken supplements in two months prior to that test.”

She stated, however, that it’s possible she could have come into contact with Ligandrol ‘through another person.’

Enter the ‘cocaine kiss’ defense.

Jack told The Sunday Project, “There was a case in the past called the ‘kiss cocaine case’ where someone had taken cocaine and then the partner, who was an athlete, kissed that person and they were contaminated because they had contact with something someone else had taken.

“I was told that anything I had come in contact with during that period could have been a risk of the contamination.”

The case to which Jack is referring involved Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber back in 2016. Barber was facing a 2-year suspension for having tested positive for cocaine but was able to prove he had come into contact with the substance via kissing a cocaine user. He met the woman online.

Watch the Full Interview Here:

Per The Independent at the time, ‘the woman involved in the encounter said she had consumed cocaine but did not inform Barber she had taken the drug before going on to repeatedly kiss him.’

An independent arbitrator ruled there had been ‘no fault or negligence by Barber.’

Shayna Jack Timeline:

• June 26th – Date of the doping test.
• July 14th – Via her personal Instagram account, Jack announces her shock withdrawal from the World Championships, despite having traveled and practicing with the Aussie squad at their staging camp.
• July 27th – Again via her personal Instagram account, Jack, reveals her positive doing test, but does not explain the substance involved, nor the fact that both the A and B samples were positive.
• July 27th – Swimming Australia releases an official comment on Jack, but does not disclose the substance involved. CEO Leigh Russell stated,  “under the specific legislation governing Australia‘s drug-testing regime, Swimming Australia is notified of any adverse test result as is WADA and FINA. Under the process, all details are required to remain confidential until ASADA has completed its investigations, the athlete is afforded due process and an outcome determined.”
• July 28th – Jack announces via Instagram that she tested positive for Ligandrol. Also known as selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) LGD-4033, was originally developed for the treatment of muscle wasting conditions such as aging, osteoporosis, muscular dystrophy and cancer, is promoted as a selective non-steroidal anabolic agent. (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority).
• July 28th – Former ASADA head Richard Ings questions the handling of informing the public by Swimming Australia, saying “If Swimming Australia is suggesting that their anti-doping policy, approved by ASADA, forbids them from announcing the Jack provisional suspension, they are wrong.”
  • Aussie Head Coach Jacco Verhaeren also speaks, saying, “We are not trying to cover anything up. We don’t play a game. She’s [Jack] not here [in Gwangju] and it shows that the Australian system works.”
• July 29th – Jack suspended from ISL pending outcome of anti-doping proceedings.
• August 2nd – Jack, along with her lawyer and mother, attends an over-four meet with ASADA. At a press conference immediately after the meeting, Jack says ‘Swimming Australia has been nothing but supportive’ and that she and SA are ‘a unit’.
  • Jack’s lawyer stated that they would be receiving a letter from ASADA in the next 4-6 weeks, but he and the rest of Jack’s team will ‘leave no stone unturned’ in its investigation of what led to Jack’s positive test.
• September 2019 – Jack says she will not have a formalized hearing for potentially as long as 9 months.