Anti-Doping Policies for Adventure Racing
As we all know, clean sport and maintaining the integrity of competition is a critical consideration for all athletic communities; all competitors ideally want a level playing field. While intentional use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances is an obvious consideration, there are a range of other issues that are also important to consider: IV treatments, unknowing PED use through over-the-counter supplements and prescribed medications, and, more recently, mechanical doping. Questions of doping in adventure racing have occasionally arisen, both privately and in the public forum, but it has taken some time for our sport to adopt a well-developed approach to the issue at the national level.
With this in mind, USARA has developed a more formal and public-facing statement along with policies regarding the importance of clean sport in adventure racing. We have communicated our work to race directors across the country, and we are now excited to share this important work with you, the greater AR community.
With the assistance of some well-informed members in the community, racers who have extensive experience with anti-doping policies, practices, and education thanks to their time participating in other sporting communities, USARA has developed an Anti-Doping specific webpage. This resource largely focuses on education while also outlining actual steps USARA can and will take to address concrete infractions within the community. Our work has been informed by our conversations with the aforementioned athletes but also by online research and a lengthy conversation with representatives from USADA (The United States Anti-Doping Agency).
To both protect the integrity of our sport and the AR community, while also better educating yourself about what is permitted and what is not under commonly accepted anti-doping legislation, we encourage you to bookmark this resource page and spend some time learning about the topic and the various consequences that come with violations of such standards.
As noted, first and foremost, our hope is to work with the AR community so that we all better understand what is permissible under USADA anti-doping standards. Additionally, we want to share the consequences that come with violations of USARA’s new policies, the details of which are laid out on the website. Considering that this is a new and complex issue for many, we are officially implementing these procedures starting in 2025. Any violations in the short term (the remainder of 2024) will be addressed with 2024 bans from Nationals and/or loss of rankings points, but longer-term sanctions will begin in 2025.
As always, we are available for further discussion. One of the key foundations to a healthy sport and sporting community rests on an educated community that understands the importance of clean sport and works individually and collectively to uphold and protect the integrity of the sport. We are confident that the AR community will rise to the challenge of better understanding the intricacies of this important topic while approaching this important work with a supportive, team-first mindset.
