Iga Świątek: Five-time Grand Slam champion accepts one-month suspension due to doping

Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Świątek accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

On Thursday, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced that Swiatek tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart drug known as TMZ, in an out-of-competition sample in August.

ITIA admitted that the positive test result was due to contamination of an over-the-counter medicine (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland, which Świątek was taking for jet lag and sleep problems, and therefore the infringement was not intentional .

“I can finally… so I want to immediately share with you something that became the worst experience of my life,” Świątek said in an interview for Instagram post.

“Over the past 2.5 months, I have been subjected to rigorous ITIA proceedings which have confirmed my innocence.

“The only positive doping test of my career, which showed an incredibly low level of a banned substance that I had never heard of before, called into question everything I had worked so hard for my entire life.

“Both my team and I have had to deal with a lot of stress and anxiety. Now everything has been explained in detail and I can return to what I love most with a clean slate.

“I know I will be stronger than ever. I’m just relieved it’s over.

“I want to be open with you even though I know I haven’t done anything wrong. Out of respect for my fans and the audience, I am sharing all the details of this longest and most difficult tournament of my career.

“My greatest hope is that you will stay with me.”

Its level of fault was found to be “at the lowest level, with no significant defects or omissions,” IATA said.

Świątek, 23, won the French Open in June and took bronze at the Paris Olympics in August this year.

She has been at No. 1 in the world rankings for most of the last two seasons, but has now moved to No. 2, with Aryna Sabalenka taking over as the top seed.

“All this will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life. Returning to training after this situation cost me a lot of strength,” added Świątek.

“So there were a lot of tears and a lot of sleepless nights. The uncertainty was the worst. I didn’t know what would happen to my career, how it would all end, or whether I would be allowed to play tennis at all.

“That’s why I’m very grateful to my family and my team, the people who stood by me no matter what.”

The WTA stated that it fully supports Świątek.

“IGA has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to the principles of fair play and clean sport, and this unfortunate incident highlights the challenges athletes face in managing their use of medications and supplements,” the WTA said in a statement.

“The WTA unwaveringly supports clean sport and rigorous processes that protect the integrity of competitions.

“We also emphasize that athletes must take every precaution to check the safety and compatibility of all products they use, as even unintentional exposure to prohibited substances can have serious consequences.”

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