Australian freestyler Shayna Jack heads to the Paris Olympics seeking redemption after her world was rocked by a contested doping ban that left her deeply depressed and unsure whether she would swim again.
While Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan are the big names in Australia’s powerhouse swimming squad, Jack’s journey “through hell” to make the grade is compelling.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in her sights, her world came crashing down after testing positive for the muscle growth agent ligandrol in an out-of-competition test in June 2019.
Photo: AFP
She was banned for four years despite proclaiming her innocence, insisting the substance entered her system by contamination.
“I won’t stop until I clear my name,” she vowed.
Her case has similarities to the Chinese doping scandal that blew up in the sport this year.
In that instance, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the prescription heart drug trimetazidine before the Tokyo Games, but they escaped suspension or sanction.
Instead, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the explanation of Chinese authorities that the results were caused by food contamination. The case was revealed by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD in April.
An independent report this month said that WADA had not shown “favoritism” toward China and the International Olympic Committee expressed its “full confidence” in the anti-doping body ahead of the Paris Games, which begin next week.
Jack is yet to address the issue and how it compares with her treatment, not wanting it to affect her Olympic preparations.
“To be honest, I’ve tried to put it on the back burner for now,” the 25-year-old told reporters at the Australian trials in Brisbane of the Chinese scandal. “But I’ll definitely be commenting on it after the Olympics.”
Ahead of the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics, the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport concluded that “on the balance of probabilities” Jack “did not intentionally ingest ligandrol.”
It reduced her ban to two years, but by then it was too late and she missed out on her childhood dream of becoming an Olympian.
Jack told the Sydney Morning Herald that her mental health deteriorated to the point that she started seeing a psychiatrist.
“I was going through hell at times. I felt alone,” she said. “I would have my partner, my dogs, my family, my friends, and they couldn’t take away my pain.”
She credited her coach Dean Boxall for helping pull her out of the fog and back into the pool.
“That man is the person who would answer my call at 2am when I was crying and didn’t know what to do,” she said. “When I didn’t have a reason to get up each day, he was the man who said: ‘Shayna, get your ass off the couch and get to the pool. Go just get in the water. Remember why you swim. Remember why you love it.’”
Jack eventually resumed training and, laser-focused, set about returning to the top, making Australia’s 4x100m relay team for the last year’s World Aquatics Championships where they shattered their own world record.
Her speed has only improved since and she qualified for Paris alongside O’Callaghan for the 100m freestyle at the expense of defending Olympic champion Emma McKeon.
Jack also bagged one of two spots in the 50m freestyle with Meg Harris, shedding tears as the magnitude of her achievement sunk in and the crowd embraced her despite her checkered past.
“I think, for me, it’s just using every bit of motivation from anybody who ever doubted me and knowing that I reached points of absolute despair and not even knowing if I wanted to return to the sport,” she said poolside after making the team. “It’s just happiness. I’m just so proud of myself.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS