Overview

• The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal, fully upholding the International Fencing Federation tribunal decision that had cleared Thibus.
• The panel determined that the presence of ostarine was unintentional and ruled that Thibus bore no fault or negligence under anti-doping rules.
• Judges accepted evidence that repeated kissing over nine days with her then-partner, American fencer Race Imboden, transferred sufficient ostarine to trigger a positive result.
• The ruling underscores the growing legitimacy of contamination defenses in elite sport and echoes the precedent set by the 2009 Richard Gasquet ‘cocaine kiss’ case.
• After her initial clearance by the FIE tribunal, Thibus finished fifth in the team foil and 28th in the individual event at the Paris Olympics.