First full day of action at SEA Games
Reigning 200-metre breaststroke champion Nuttapong Ketin of Thailand has issued a denial that he intentionally took clenbuterol after testing positive for the banned substance.
Nuttapong’s withdrawal from the SEA Games has been a major setback for Thailand at the start of the swimming competition.
Thailand chef de mission Thana Chaiprasit said yesterday Nuttapong, who carried the Thai flag into the opening ceremony at the London 2012 Olympics, was staying in Singapore awaiting the result of testing on the B sample taken last month by the World Anti-Doping Agency before the team left for Singapore.
Nuttapong withdrew from the 100m and 200m breaststroke and two individual medleys at the SEA Games, which were officially opened on Friday, causing team officials to revise down medal expectations in the pool.
Thailand topped the medal count at the last SEA Games in 2013 and are again targeting top position.
The 22-year-old Nuttapong denied deliberately using clenbuterol, and was quoted in Thai media saying the banned substance must have been in a diet supplement.
“I confirmed that I did not intend to use any prohibited substance,” he was quoted as saying, adding that he was shocked by the positive result because he was cautious about all medications and supplements.
The result of the B sample could be returned as early as next week, with Nuttapong facing a lengthy ban if it confirms the initial adverse finding.
Athletes across a range of sports have claimed they inadvertently ingested clenbuterol from contaminated food or from asthma medication.
Former cycling world time trial champion Michael Rogers had a provisional suspension overturned last year when he convinced the international cycling union that there was a significant probability that the presence of clenbuterol may have resulted from the consumption of contaminated meat from China.
In October 2013, Rogers raced in China, where clenbuterol is widely administered to livestock to build muscle and reduce fat. He tested positive days later at the Japan Cup.
Alberto Contador, who was stripped of the 2010 Tour de France title and served a two-year ban after testing positive for clenbuterol, unsuccessfully argued that he’d eaten a contaminated steak bought in Spain.
Meanwhile, a presenter at the 28th SEA Games’ opening ceremony has apologised after she shocked onlookers by mocking a small, ethnic Indian girl about her accent.
TV personality and actress Sharon Au prompted a minor outcry after she approached the girl, who was sitting in the crowd with an older man, presumably her father.
“What (vat) happened, what happened?” she laughed, wobbling her head from side to side, after the girl stumbled as she tried to repeat a line welcoming athletes to the Singapore Games.
Au, who is ethnic Chinese, also teased the girl about her name, Kavya, calling her “caviar” instead.
“Some of you may have watched the pre-show and heard my attempt at mimicking an Indian accent,” she posted on her Facebook page.
“It was intended to be comic but in hindsight I realise how insensitive it was. I sincerely apologise to those whom I’ve inadvertently offended.”