Hockeyroos’ Jane Bennett charged with two-year doping ban – Hockey News
It seems that Jane Bennett of the Hockeyroos’ squad will be disqualified for the 2012 London Olympics as she was given a two-year doping ban after testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol during a training camp in Perth on August 9.
The 26-year-old Bennett claims that it was an unintentional mistake as she had consumed a weight-loss product without knowing it contained the substance. She went on to state that she was at fault for not thoroughly checking the ingredients of the weight-loss
product.
The Chief Executive of Australian Sports Anti-doping Agency (ASADA) Ms. Aurora Andruska commented that the violation was detected during their testing of Australian Athletes for the Commonwealth Games last year.
Hockey Australia acknowledged their finding and the Chief Executive of the body Mark Anderson commented, "HA acknowledges and accepts Bennett's explanation that she took what was thought to be a weight loss product before heading
to Perth.”
HA supported Bennett and her rationale, however due to the strict rules, they were left with no other choice but to give her a two-year ban from Women’s hockey. This effectively ruined her chances of being a part of the Hockeyroos
for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics as her ban is until August 26, 2012.
Additionally, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) ordered her to pay back the training grant of $7,703 that was awarded to her.
Bennett said, "I take full responsibility, and although I had no intention of cheating the systems in place, I accept that I should have done more research into the product. It was an innocent mistake but I fully accept the finding."
It looks to be a case of bad judgment on the part of Bennett to take a weight-loss product without checking the ingredients for any type of possible banned substances. Although she was not in the side as of yet, her chances have
been halted with this two-year ban.
It seems that more and more athletes are having trouble with banned substances found in many different products and unknowingly taking them. It will be interesting to see if ASADA decides to start educating athletes on the various
products that may be harmful or may contain banned substances.
From just a simple mistake, Bennett will now be sitting out of the 2012 London Olympics missing all the action. A two-year ban for any athlete in any sport can be career ending, as the chance to be a part of a national team quickly
fade away with younger players coming up the ranks. The Hockeyroos will be looking to replace Bennett and bring a different player to put in a good performance in the Olympics.
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