USADA announced today that Jessica Penne of Chula Vista, California has accepted a 20 month sanction for her second violation of the anti-doping policy.
Penne, 36, tested positive for two metabolites of stanozolol, 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 3′-hydroxystanozolol, following a trace sample of out-of-competition urine that she supplied on April 8, 2019. Stanozolol is an unspecified substance Substance of the class of anabolic agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC anti-doping policy and the UFC prohibition list.
USADA has determined that a reduction in the otherwise applicable period of suspension is appropriate in this case due to the totality of the circumstances, including the complexity of the issues, as well as Penne’s participation in discussions with USADA following his first public comments in January. In addition, under the current UFC anti-doping policy, the USADA did not apply an enhanced penalty for a second violation, as the USADA determined that Penne did not intend to cheat when she committed her first violation because her use of the prohibited anabolic agent, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) in a dietary supplement was based on her doctor’s recommendation regarding a medical condition.
During its investigation – and in order to determine a relative period of ingestion of stanozolol which caused its positive test – the USADA also asked the laboratory to re-analyze the out-of-competition sample of Penne previously declared negative from the April 4, 2019. The laboratory was able to perform a targeted analysis on the sample of April 4, 2019 and subsequently identified trace levels for a metabolite of stanozolol also found in its sample of April 8, 2019. The supplements that Penne submitted for analysis did not give a positive result for stanozolol. Upon notification of his positive test, Penne obtained a third-party laboratory result showing that a drug was the source of the prohibited substance in his sample. However, working with the third party laboratory and the WADA Accredited Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, USADA determined that the initial results of the third party laboratory had not established adequately source of positive test due to laboratory test protocol.
Penne’s 20-month suspension began on April 8, 2019, when his positive sample was taken.
USADA runs an independent anti-doping program throughout the year for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental agency whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire real sport and protect the rights of clean athletes. To help UFC athletes and their support team members understand the rules that apply to them, USADA provides full instructions on the UFC anti-doping program website (https : //UFC.USADA.org) concerning the tests. prohibited processes and substances, how to obtain permission to use a necessary medication, and the risks and dangers of taking supplements, as well as performance-enhancing and recreational drugs.
In addition, the agency manages a drug reference hotline, Drug Reference Online (https://UFC.GlobalDRO.com), organizes training sessions and proactively distributes a multitude of educational materials, such as the List bans, easy-to-read wallet cards. and periodic athlete alerts. Many resources available to athletes are provided in multiple languages, including Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, and Japanese.
In addition to education and testing, strong anti-doping programs allow investigation of tips and whistleblowers. The USADA provides a number of means to report the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs in sport to protect clean athletes and promote clean competition. Any tip can be reported using the USADA Play Clean Tip Center, by email at [email protected], by phone at 1 877-Play Clean (1-877-752-9253), or by mail.
