Cross-contamination: a real and present concern for athletes
03 June 2025
Cross-contamination: a real and present concern for athletes
03 June 2025
Cross-contamination: a real and present concern for athletes
Cross-contamination: a real and present concern for athletes
Being an athlete comes with a lot of responsibilites. Alongside relentless training, hectic competition schedules, and specific fuelling requirements, anti-doping measures are a high priority. And it’s no longer enough to be careful about what goes into your body; there’s growing awareness that what goes onto your body matters just as much.
The recent case of Jannik Sinner is a stark reminder that contamination isn’t limited to ingestion. The tennis star has just returned to competition after serving a three-month ban following a positive test for clostebol.
How did this happen? Sinner’s physio had been treating a cut on his hand with Trofodermin, a common over-the-counter medication in Italy that contains the anabolic agent clostebol. The substance entered Sinner’s system through skin-to-skin contact during a therapeutic massage.
A no-fault-or-negligence ruling was handed down after it was found that Sinner had been accidentally contaminated by his physiotherapist. But the principle of strict liability still applies and a case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency meant that Sinner served a three-month ban for the infraction.
Another surprising case—possibly the first reported instance of contamination via a sports accessory—was published last year in the journal Clinica Chimica Acta. It tells the story of an athlete who challenged a positive test for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). An investigation revealed that the positive test likely resulted from “ostarine transfer from an abuser to an athlete who shared the same hamstring sleeves.”
The athlete had borrowed two neoprene sleeves from a teammate who later admitted to using ostarine. The sleeves had absorbed the first athlete's ostarine-laced sweat, which then transferred to the second athlete during use. After extensive testing of the sleeves and the athlete’s hair and nails, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) confirmed a no-fault ruling.
Aside from being kinda gross, it's a real eye-opener. The risk of contamination through the skin is real. And although those cases can be complicated, the principle of strict liability means that athletes are ultimately responsible for anything found in their system.
So it’s not just about watching what you eat or drink anymore—athletes must be mindful of everything they come into contact with, from massage gels to borrowed gear. It shows how easy it is for things to go wrong, even when you’re playing by the rules.
Being an athlete comes with a lot of responsibilites. Alongside relentless training, hectic competition schedules, and specific fuelling requirements, anti-doping measures are a high priority. And it’s no longer enough to be careful about what goes into your body; there’s growing awareness that what goes onto your body matters just as much.
The recent case of Jannik Sinner is a stark reminder that contamination isn’t limited to ingestion. The tennis star has just returned to competition after serving a three-month ban following a positive test for clostebol.
How did this happen? Sinner’s physio had been treating a cut on his hand with Trofodermin, a common over-the-counter medication in Italy that contains the anabolic agent clostebol. The substance entered Sinner’s system through skin-to-skin contact during a therapeutic massage.
A no-fault-or-negligence ruling was handed down after it was found that Sinner had been accidentally contaminated by his physiotherapist. But the principle of strict liability still applies and a case resolution agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency meant that Sinner served a three-month ban for the infraction.
Another surprising case—possibly the first reported instance of contamination via a sports accessory—was published last year in the journal Clinica Chimica Acta. It tells the story of an athlete who challenged a positive test for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). An investigation revealed that the positive test likely resulted from “ostarine transfer from an abuser to an athlete who shared the same hamstring sleeves.”
The athlete had borrowed two neoprene sleeves from a teammate who later admitted to using ostarine. The sleeves had absorbed the first athlete's ostarine-laced sweat, which then transferred to the second athlete during use. After extensive testing of the sleeves and the athlete’s hair and nails, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) confirmed a no-fault ruling.
Aside from being kinda gross, it's a real eye-opener. The risk of contamination through the skin is real. And although those cases can be complicated, the principle of strict liability means that athletes are ultimately responsible for anything found in their system.
So it’s not just about watching what you eat or drink anymore—athletes must be mindful of everything they come into contact with, from massage gels to borrowed gear. It shows how easy it is for things to go wrong, even when you’re playing by the rules.
