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The Real Science of Sport Podcast

What Tennis' Latest Scandal Teaches Us About Doping

Season 6, Ep. 23

World Number Two tennis player Iga Swiatek's positive test for a little-known product called Trimetazidine raises the issue of whether drug testing is going too far. Should there not be a threshold for the level of prohibited substances found in the body? Is there a performance advantage? What fault lies with the athlete? No matter the final outcome, an athlete remains tainted no matter their potential innocence, which could affect performance and sponsorship agreements. In this Spotlight episode, the team discuss the case, its similarities and differences compared to tennis' other high profile doping case, Janik Sinner, and what it means for anti-doping.


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The ITA decision statement


BBC story on Swiatek's one-month ban


Swiatek's statement on Instagram


The timeline of Swiatek's doping case


Response from the manufacturer of the drug


Article on Jack Burke's KOMs


When Burke broke the Alp d'Huez KOM


Jack Burke's Strava account

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