Yul Moldauer suspended

[OnoNoKomachi]

Yul Moldauer was suspended by USADA for a whereabouts violation.

Yul Moldauer suspended by USADA for 16 months due to whereabouts violation - Gymnastics Now

Tokyo Olympian and world medalist Yul Moldauer announced Thursday that he has been suspended by USADA for 16 months for a whereabouts violation.

gymnastics-now.com

Until 2026. He announced it on Instagram. He says he's going to continue training.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

So many strange rules

 

[Passion]

"“I want to personally share some important news with you before it becomes public.

I have received a 16-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) due to a whereabouts violation. I want to be absolutely clear: I have never tested positive for any banned substances in my career. For over a decade, I have proudly upheld the values of clean sport and fair competition.

This suspension stems from missing three required whereabouts updates within a 12-month period. The first two tests were missed due to competitions, where they had drug testing stations, which I passed. The third violation happened after the Olympic Trials, as I was processing the disappointment of missing out on my second Olympic Games.

During that time, I took a short break to reset mentally and physically. While in Florida, I was in the area but not at the exact location I had listed when a tester arrived, when I got in contact with the test officer, I was 45 minutes away and told him I was in the car and ready to drive and meet him, but he said he had only 15 minutes to wait, which resulted in my third missed test.

This experience has been incredibly difficult, but it has also given me the chance to reflect, grow, and come back stronger. I am now in a better mental and physical place and more determined than ever to continue pursuing my goals.

This setback does not define me. My focus remains on rebuilding trust, staying dedicated to the sport I love, and working tirelessly to represent Team USA at the LA 2028 Olympics.

I am committed to upholding the highest standards of athletic integrity and look forward to returning to competition stronger and wiser.

To my family, friends, sponsors, and fans, thank you for standing by me. Your support means everything and fuels my determination to rise above this.” "

This is a stupid situation but I guess if you had to miss a year, 2025 is the year to miss.

 

[rlayt]

Really a stupid way to apply the rules. He got tested those first two times.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

The issue is he had actually to tell USADA exactly where he would be. That was the issue, not the test result. It's some bureaucratic rule which he didn't follow.

 

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

It's harsh, and 16 months is a very long suspension (especially compared to the suspensions recently imposed on various coaches for abusing athletes in their care) but I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for him. Drug testing is part and parcel of being a top-level athlete these days, and that means following the rules to the letter.

"I was in the area but not at the exact location I had listed when a tester arrived, when I got in contact with the test officer, I was 45 minutes away"

A 45-minute drive puts him a long, long way from where he said he was going to be, it's not like he'd just popped around the corner to get some milk when the testers turned up at his house. And it doesn't take a genius to understand why letting athletes disappear for almost an hour when they know they're about to get tested is... well it's something that's not allowed.

 

[RedBirdie]

Someone on reddit posted some good information about whereabouts. Athletes have to submit a 1-hour window where they can be found each day. A lot of athletes will submit, say, "6-7 am at home." It's submitted on an app, so changes can be made each day, and athletes are responsible for submitting and updating every single day.

Yul's been at this for a long time. He knows how it works. One whereabouts violation should be a wake up call. Two should have you being insanely careful and on top of things. It's not like this is some one-time petty administrative rule violation that they look the other way on. This is a big deal, he had already screwed up (significantly!) twice.

 

[Puffin]

This is a really stupid mistake by Yul. The rule that athletes have to give their whereabouts in 1 hour blocks has existed for decades - possibly since before Yul was even born. All athletes know this.

It is the whole basis of random - out of competition - random drug testing that testers can just show up and demand a test without warning or pre-booking. So athletes have to say where they are going to be in one hour blocks and the drug testers will wait a max 15 minutes

The is a penalty for missing 3 tests was put into place because many athletes who were later revealed to be drug cheats had a tendency to "forget" tests until the performance enhancing or sometimes recreational drugs were out of their system.

Yul has been incredibly sloppy. Missing a single test might be an unfortunate error - but 3?

 

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

This is a really stupid mistake by Yul. The rule that athletes have to give their whereabouts in 1 hour blocks has existed for decades - possibly since before Yul was even born. All athletes know this.

Yul has been incredibly sloppy. Missing a single test might be an unfortunate error - but 3?

He's also far from the first athlete to get banned for this exact offence - US sprint world champion Christian Coleman missed the Tokyo Olympics because of an 18-month ban imposed for whereabouts failures; Team USA shot putter Raven Saunders also had an 18-month one that finished last year.

There's no universe in which he wasn't aware of how strict the authorities are on this and the consequences if he broke the rules. To know that you're on two strikes, even if you think they're both unfair, and still be so reckless is just asking for trouble.

 

[Onyxrose81]

A lot of the strict rules came about because of Lance Armstrong. That’s all on Yul. Sucks but what can you do.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It's harsh, and 16 months is a very long suspension (especially compared to the suspensions recently imposed on various coaches for abusing athletes in their care) but I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for him. Drug testing is part and parcel of being a top-level athlete these days, and that means following the rules to the letter.

"I was in the area but not at the exact location I had listed when a tester arrived, when I got in contact with the test officer, I was 45 minutes away"

A 45-minute drive puts him a long, long way from where he said he was going to be, it's not like he'd just popped around the corner to get some milk when the testers turned up at his house. And it doesn't take a genius to understand why letting athletes disappear for almost an hour when they know they're about to get tested is... well it's something that's not allowed.

Agree. And this one being the 3rd makes me less sympathetic. 45 minutes is a loooooooot.

Positive that he's talking about accountability, however. And that he wants others to learn from his mistakes. I can imagine it might help to feel there's at least some good coming out of it.

 

[Passion]

Moldauer put out a second statement clarifying things he said in his first statement (you have to swipe right on the images)

 

[makam]

45 minutes is a loooooooot.

Honestly, that depends on where you are and the time of day. It takes me 7 minutes to get to my office in the evening but 35+ any time between 7am and 930am. And it is slightly less than 5 miles--4 minutes to go 2.5 miles, 30+ to go the last 2.5. He was in Florida, I imagine 40 minutes is easy with their traffic (especially in touristy areas).

 

[irichluck21]

Yeah, this is all Yul's mistake. Glad he is taking responsibility for it.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Honestly, that depends on where you are and the time of day. It takes me 7 minutes to get to my office in the evening but 35+ any time between 7am and 930am. And it is slightly less than 5 miles--4 minutes to go 2.5 miles, 30+ to go the last 2.5. He was in Florida, I imagine 40 minutes is easy with their traffic (especially in touristy areas).

It's a lot however far it is, really. Because of the timeslot rules.

 

[irichluck21]

On the bright side, if this was the year to slip up, this was the right year. Not much going on.