Dry handed four-year ban after drug test lie
Mark Dry, the double Commonwealth hammer throw bronze medallist, has insisted the “punishment does not even remotely fit the crime” after he was banned from athletics for four years because he lied about being on a fishing trip when drugs testers came to his house and he was not there.
When originally asked why he was not present for the test on Oct 15, 2018, Dry said he was an “avid fisherman” and decided to go fishing while recovering from a hip replacement.
Dry’s partner also provided a statement, saying: “Mark was out fishing on the morning of Oct 15 and we travelled to Scotland to visit his family the following day”.
However, Dry later admitted he had actually travelled to Scotland on Oct 15 and “forgot to update my whereabouts”, which is required for anti-doping officers to be able to test athletes on any given day.
“When I received the email informing me of a missed test I panicked and said I was out fishing,” Dry told UK Anti-doping.
“I did not want to have a strike against my fully clean record and so opted for what I now know was completely the wrong decision,” he added.
Had Dry not lied over his false fishing trip, he would have suffered no punishment and simply registered a missed test. Missing three tests as part of the “domestic testing pool” – which Dry was part of – means an athlete is upgraded to the “national registered testing pool”, which places more onerous requirements on them and gives them three more strikes before a ban is implemented. Thus, Dry would have been required to miss five further tests before any ban took place. Instead, his lie has resulted in a ban of four years.
Dry, who has no further right of appeal, said he was “heartbroken”. “How can they equate me with someone who injects steroids or tries to obstruct other authorities?”