SYDNEY: World number two Iga Swiatek said on Friday she was ready to put a drugs scandal behind her, insisting there was no reason for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to appeal against her case.
The 23-year-old Pole tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August when she was ranked number one.
However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the violation was not intentional and she escaped with a one-month sanction that saw her miss three tournaments in Asia and lose her top ranking.
News of the saga only emerged in late November and she will play her first tournament since then at the mixed-teams United Cup in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open next month.
Swiatek said that, while the incident had been “mentally tough,” the public response had been generally positive, allaying fears that she would be ostracized.
“I think people, most of them, are understanding,” said the five-time Grand Slam champion.
“And the ones who read the documents and are aware of how the system works, they know that I had no fault and I had no influence on what was going on.
“I try to just go on with my life and focus on different things, focus on preparing for the season and on tennis, because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that,” she said.
Her case is similar to that of Italian men’s world number one Jannik Sinner.
He was exonerated by the ITIA for twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March. But WADA appealed against the decision in September and he is awaiting the outcome.
Swiatek said she does not anticipate WADA will follow the same path with her.
“I gave every possible evidence and there is not much, honestly, more to do,” she said.
“There is no point to do an appeal in our opinion.
“But, you know, I guess overall, this whole process was pretty abstract sometimes and hard to understand from a point of view where you don’t think about the law and everything.
“But honestly, this is about the law and the wording and this kind of stuff. So I’m not expecting an appeal, but I have kind of no influence on what’s going to happen.
“But I can say from the processes that I went through and how they treated me from the beginning, that it seemed fair for me,” she said.
“I managed to give the source (of the contamination) pretty quickly. That’s why the case closed, pretty quickly.”
Swiatek not expecting WADA appeal over doping scandal
https://arab.news/jxjfm
Swiatek not expecting WADA appeal over doping scandal
- Pole tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample in August when she was ranked number one
Riyadh Marathon now part of Kingdom’s ‘social fabric,’ says Prince Khaled bin Al-Waleed bin Talal
- President of the Saudi Sports for All Federation spoke to Arab News ahead of 5th edition of the race on Saturday
DUBAi: As thousands of runners take part in the fifth edition of the Riyadh Marathon, no one will be prouder in the strides that the event has taken during that time than Prince Khaled bin Al-Waleed bin Talal.
The president of the Saudi Sports for All Federation, organizers of the race, has long championed marathon, as well as many other community sporting activities and competitions across the Kingdom.
“We’re on our fifth year, this is five years of increased participation from across Saudi,” he told Arab News as he prepared to join thousands of participants of Saturday. “Just this morning (Friday) I was tagged on social by a group of people flying in from Madinah to take part in the marathon. I love that we have people that come from all over the world for the marathon, but it really moves my heart when I am seeing people from all over the country make their way here to join us.”
Sports and wellness events like the marathon festival and the actual marathon itself, according to Prince Khaled, do so much “for community unity, for social fabric, for bringing together different cultures even within the Kingdom.”
Considering the sheer scope of the country’s landscape and the travel distances between cities, this is no small feat.
“As anyone would understand, Saudi is a massive landmass, and when you look at something as simple as different language habits and little social norms, you see them all coming together to intermingle for the marathon, and that brings us together even closer as a culture, as a country,” said Prince Khaled. “The SFA is proud to be the vehicle of unity and pride and togetherness for Saudi; there’s nothing like the feeling of seeing us all moving en masse with energy and excitement.
“We are supposed to be the body developing and strengthening Saudi community infrastructure, associations, and cultivating and creating resources that allow for a Saudi Arabia that doesn’t stop moving,” he added.
“The SFA sees our Saudi leadership as a catalyst for this all; we are so fortunate to have King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushing for a health-centric citizenry and society.”
The success of the past four editions has raised the profile of the Riyadh Marathon in double quick time; it is no longer the novelty it was five years ago, but a highlight of the sporting calendar.
“Saudi now has the marathon baked into its social fabric, the country’s leadership has transformed the country from even a infrastructural perspective to make Saudi a wellness nation — today, and for the past four years of the Riyadh Marathon,” Prince Khaled said.
“When we see people all over social media asking for registration to reopen after we cleared 50,000, we knew the change has reached all level of society. The change is a marked shift towards physical activity being a main driver of entertainment and excitement in the Kingdom, alongside, of course, all of the physical benefits, healthwise.”
A sign of the importance of the race can be seen in a the list of partners that has grown year on year, including the Ministry of Sport, Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Saudi Athletics Federation, National Events Center, Riyadh Municipality, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh Metro, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the Saudi Tourism Authority.
It is also sponsored by Alawwal Bank, Asics and Red Bull, among many other local and international names.
“I don’t want to tell you who just yet, but there’s a few ministers and vice ministers signed up to run,” said Prince Khaled.
“How cool is this? How engaged are our ministers that they have planned to join our people in this public expression of what it means to be Saudi in 2026. These are the people that are one with us, and lead with health and unity as an example. Look out for them during the 5 and 10 km, and two during the 21 km, but that’s all the hints I am giving as to which ministers are signed up to participate. It makes me really proud as president of SFA, and as a Saudi on a personal level.
“I also want to highlight our own Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who is always laser-focused on the success of the Riyadh Marathon, and SFA’s activations in general,” he added.
“Vision 2030 set a goal of increasing the national level of physical activity from 13 percent to 40 percent by the end of the decade. We have far exceeded that goal, with physical activity levels already reaching 60 percent.”
