Court Clears French Olympic Fencer in Unusual Doping Case

French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus was cleared of a doping charge by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which accepted that her positive test for the banned substance ostarine resulted from accidental contamination through kissing her then-partner, American fencer Race Imboden, who was using the substance unknowingly. CAS dismissed an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that sought a four-year suspension, ruling that Thibus bore no fault or negligence and that the ingestion was not intentional. The court found it scientifically plausible that the presence of ostarine in Imboden's saliva over a period of nine days could have contaminated Thibus through kissing. This ruling upheld a previous decision by the International Fencing Federation's doping tribunal, allowing Thibus to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she finished fifth in the team foil event. The case drew comparisons to the 2009 doping case involving French tennis player Richard Gasquet, who was also exonerated after arguing that he tested positive due to kissing someone who had used a banned substance. Thibus, a Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in team foil, did not medal in Paris but was vindicated of any wrongdoing in this unusual doping case.