Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay accepts six-month doping ban – The Rink Live
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay of Minnesota State University-Mankato has accepted a six-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping violation, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.
McKay, a senior Mavericks goalie, tested positive for ostarine (enobosarm) following a Jan. 23 test in which he was one of four selected as a substitute for the U.S. Olympic team . USADA said the tests took place Jan. 22, the same day McKay backed the Mavericks to a 7-1 win over St. Thomas in Mankato.
USADA has declared ostarine to be an Unspecified Substance in the Class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under USADA’s Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, Olympic Committee’s National Anti-Doping Policy United States Paralympic and International Ice Hockey Federation Anti-Doping Regulations, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
USADA advised that I could not avoid a penalty because, as an athlete, I am responsible for what enters my body.
Dryden McKay
On Monday afternoon, McKay responded to the sanction via Twitter.
“On February 1, to my surprise, I was informed that my urine sample was contaminated with minute levels (trillionths of a gram) of a substance I had never heard of before called Ostarine. The level was explained to me by my attorney as it is so small it is comparable to a grain of salt in a swimming pool, therefore giving me NO performance enhancement benefit,” McKay tweeted.
McKay said he boosts his vitamin D levels by drinking an immune-boosting vitamin to protect against COVID-19.
“I know the source because I had all the supplements I was taking immediately shipped to an independent lab to find the source of contamination. The lab found Ostarine contaminants in my open bottle of the ‘all-natural’ vitamin immune booster. D3 which I was taking,” McKay said in his tweet.
During USADA’s investigation of the circumstances of the case, USADA received results from a WADA-accredited laboratory indicating that a supplement product that McKay was using prior to the sample collection , which did not mention ostarine on the Supplement Facts label, was contaminated with this substance in an amount consistent with the circumstances of ingestion and his positive test.
“USADA has indicated that I cannot avoid a penalty because as an athlete I am responsible for what goes into my body,” McKay said. “The All-Natural Vitamin D Immunity Booster is an unapproved NSF supplement, so I face the consequences.”
McKay said his suspension was lifted by an independent sports arbitrator on Feb. 3, allowing him to complete the college season. The goaltender said Minnesota State and the NCAA were notified of the possible violation. The NCAA also cleared McKay to return to play in a separate ruling.
USADA said McKay was also given three days credit for a provisional suspension served from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. Additionally, McKay’s competitive results obtained on January 22, the date his positive sample was taken, were disqualified, including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.