British Runner Ban For Two Years

The British long distance runner, Luke Traynor has been handed two years ban for taking cocaine use having served 13 months to date. He faced four years away but got safe by UKAD after noted his ‘timely admission’ of the violation and finding out that the doping is not for performance-enhancing.

The Scot failed a UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) test after the stimulant was found in his urine at the Vitality London 10km race in May 2019.

Traynor, 26, said the cocaine trace related to out-of-competition use and was unrelated to sport performance.

Ukad accepted this and set his period of ineligibility to run from 27 May 2019 until midnight on 26 May 2021.

Ukad director of operations Pat Myhill said: “We are urging athletes to consider the significant risk that goes hand in hand with using cocaine.

“Athletes should be aware that cocaine, used out-of-competition, often stays in the system.”

Traynor represented Great Britain at the World Cross-Country Championships in 2019 and the World Half Marathon Championships in 2018.

Last July, Traynor said he took “full responsibility” for his actions.

“I have made an incredibly stupid and uncharacteristic mistake and for that I am deeply sorry,” he wrote on Twitter.

“This happened as a one-off and in a purely social situation with a drug I should never have taken”.

He took cocaine during a night out in Glasgow.

UKAD’s written judgement said: “In admitting the ADRV, Mr Traynor explained that his ingestion of cocaine was not intentional as that term is contemplated by IAAF ADR Article 10.2.3. Mr Traynor asserts that on the evening of 24 May 2019 he was out drinking in Glasgow. Mr Traynor states that he was offered cocaine at approximately 2:00am on 25 May 2019, which he accepted and ingested intranasally. He states that this was the first and only time that he had ingested cocaine.”