Leo Nogueira Claims Tainted Supplement Resulted In Failed Doping Test

Leo Nogueira Claims Tainted Supplement Resulted In Failed Doping Test

Leo Nogueira, who failed a doping test at the IBJJF 2016 World championships, has claimed tainted supplements were responsible for him being flagged by USADA for a doping violation.

Mar 30, 2017 by FloGrappling
Leo Nogueira Claims Tainted Supplement Resulted In Failed Doping Test
Leo Nogueira, who failed a doping test at the IBJJF 2016 World Championships, has claimed tainted supplements were responsible for him being flagged by USADA for a doping violation. 

In an announcement earlier this week, USADA banned Nogueira for two years -- dating from his original test sample on June 5, 2016 -- and stripped the 29-year-old of his 2016 IBJJF World title. 

2016 World Champion Leo Nogueira Fails Doping Test, Stripped Of Medal

"It was a big surprise; I wasn't expecting that," Nogueira told The Grappling Central podcast on Thursday. 

Host Ryan Ford, who describes himself as a "personal friend" of the former black belt world champ, was also joined by Nogueira's trainer, Jason Colleran. 

Colleran did not specify which supplement may have resulted in the positive test. 

We've got a long list of supplements that he was taking. Unfortunately WADA and USADA did not test all of those supplements. It's a rough test, because they wouldn't test all of the supplements he was taking.
-- Jason Colleran

Nogueira's claims that he did not use a performance-enhancing substance were supported by his trainer, who said that the athlete was far from top shape going into 2016 Worlds. 

"It was a low level of clomophine," Colleran said. "As far as a performance enhancer…  it's definitely far from something he or I would choose as a performance enhancer. For someone with all his injuries, clomophine is far from a performance-enhancing substance." 

The black belt was contacted around a month and a half after the tournament by USADA and advised of a possible doping violation. 

Communicating with USADA via his lawyer, Nogueira was investigated by the anti-doping agency before the sanction was issued earlier this week. 

"There's nothing I can do to change the penalty they gave me," Nogueira said. "I need to wait for the time they gave me. I'll be more careful with the supplements that I take."

Listen to the interview below: