Canadian Pole Vaulter Shawn Barber Ingested Cocaine Through Kissing

A Canadian pole vaulter tested positive for cocaine through kissing, reports say.

22-year old Shawn Barber was allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics when it emerged that the reason he tested positive for the substance was that it was ingested during a "sexual encounter" with a woman.

Barber posted an online ad looking for a casual encounter with a woman who was "drug and disease free" the night before the Canadian Olympic trials.

The woman revealed she had consumed cocaine and during their encounter kissed Barber several times without him knowing she had taken the drug.

The on 5 August heard that the drug was passed on through "kissing", with Barber not deemed to be at fault for breaking anti-doping regulations in place.

Paul Greene, Barber's lawyer had this to say on the matter:

"Forensic toxicologists have looked at the case and understood... that it was impossible to have taken this amount of cocaine intentionally. You have inadvertent ingestion of cocaine that is passed to an athlete by way of kissing which is exactly what happened."

The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada made the call back in August, mere days before Barber was in action in the 2016 Olympics. However the results of the case were not published until today.

The 2015 World Champion was set to be hit with a two-year ban from competition at the hands of Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) but today's findings mean he was cleared from all wrongdoing.

President of CCES Paul Melia said Barber was not at fault.

"The arbitrator listened to all of the evidence and made the decision that the athlete had exercised the utmost caution and therefore was at no fault."

Bizarrely, this is not the first time an incident along the same lines occurred. Back in 2009, French Tennis player Richard Gasquet was provisionally hit with a suspension from the sport but then had his ban overturned when it emerged that the traces of cocaine were passed on when he kissed a woman in a nightclub.

Note to athletes, ask women if they have taken cocaine before kissing them...

(h/t BBC)

Topics: rio, olympics

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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