The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has banned American swimmer Michael Brinegar from competing in Olympic events for four years due to his blood doping conviction.
According to the organization, Brinegar’s Athlete Biological Passport experienced specific issues between July and September of 2022 that were “caused by blood doping.”
An impartial adjudicator upheld his innocence, but USADA appealed that ruling and took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Paris 2024 US team’s final trial is this coming Sunday, and Brinegar will not be participating.
The son of former US Olympian Jennifer Hooker Brinegar, Brinegar vehemently rejects any misconduct and expresses profound disappointment at the verdict and charges made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. USADA has previously criticized how the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) dealt with the matter of the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a prohibited substance but were still permitted to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
Wada claimed it was “not in a position to disprove” the findings of the Chinese anti-doping board, who had concluded that contamination was to blame for the failed tests.
In the last hour leading up to Brinegar’s previous event at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, the court’s decision was initially revealed. By finding that Brinegar had broken Article 2.2 of the World Anti-Doping Code, the USADA reversed the decision of an impartial arbitrator who had previously concluded in December 2023 that Brinegar had not broken any anti-doping regulations. From July 20, 2022, until December 31, 2022, all of Brinegar’s findings are null and void.
On June 26, 2023, the day before the 2023 U.S. Nationals, Brinegar said that the USADA emailed him to inform him that they were initiating a case against him due to anomalies in his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), leading to an Adverse Passport Finding. This started the process.
