Drug Free Sport New Zealand v Damon Tafatu
Overview:
Anti-doping – powerlifter tested positive for the prohibited substance 1, 3 dimethylpentylamine, also known as methylhexaneamine, while competing in the New Zealand Powerlifting Championships – admitted violation – said took two supplements on the day of the competition to provide him with an energy boost – also said he took another supplement the night before the competition to help stay awake when driving to the city where the competition was held – didn’t carry out any research or make inquiries about the three supplements prior to consuming them – after positive test result, he did research on the Internet on these supplements and claimed source of positive test must have been due to taking the supplement he consumed the night before the competition, which lists the prohibited substances in its ingredients – whether he could establish under Rule 14.4 how prohibited substance got in his system – Tribunal concluded there were too many inconsistencies in his evidence, to enable it to accept on the balance of probabilities that this supplement was the source of the positive test – these inconsistencies meant his evidence couldn’t be relied upon to satisfy how the prohibited substance entered his body and therefore he wasn’t eligible for a lesser penalty than the mandatory two years – 2 years’ ineligibility imposed (commencing from date of provisional suspension on 5 December 2012) as well as disqualification of competition results.