Four-time Scotties champ Harris suspended for banned substance By: Taylor Allen Posted: 9:27 AM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2024 Last Modified: 4:54 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2024 Updates

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Four-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Briane Harris was ineligible to play at last month’s national women’s curling championship in Calgary after she tested positive for traces of the banned substance Ligandrol.

The substance is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as it mimics the activity of testosterone in the body, which helps repair and build muscles.

The 32-year-old from Winnipeg, who plays lead for Kerri Einarson’s Gimli-based team, is provisionally suspended for up to four years — but Harris is appealing the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Her lawyers maintain she was unknowingly exposed to the substance through bodily contact.

“The silver lining in this nightmare has been the overwhelming love and support I’ve received from my friends, family, teammates, and peers. They know me, and they believe in me,” said Harris in a statement to the Free Press.

“I was worried that my silence would be mistaken for guilt as I waited for the process to follow through. I was relieved to find that the silence did not affect the opinions of those close to me once the information was released. I cannot put into words how much everyone’s support means to me.”

Harris was ruled ineligible just hours before the Canadian championship began in Calgary on Feb. 16. Fifth player Krysten Karwacki filled in and was named an all-star.

The Einarson team’s drive for a fifth consecutive national title stalled in the playoffs.

“I was entirely shocked and devastated when I became aware of my positive test result,” Harris said, in a statement to CBC Sports. “As someone who does not take any supplements at all, and even hesitates to take Advil or Tylenol, I was in disbelief that this could happen to me.

“I was crushed that I could not play in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and help my teammates defend our title. My goal now is to resolve this as soon as possible to preserve my Olympic dreams; it would be unbearable to have that in jeopardy over no wrongdoing on my part.”

The out-of-competition test was done by doping control officers on Jan. 24 and Harris was notified of the result on Feb. 15. A second sample, which is referred to as the B sample, on Feb. 19 confirmed the positive test.

“Last week, Ms. Harris’ B Sample confirmed the trace presence of said anabolic agent. Any silence on Ms. Harris’s part, or any of the parties familiar with this matter, was simply due to the need to maintain strict confidentiality while the B Sample was being tested,” said Harris’s lawyers, Amanda Fowler and Dr. Emir Crowne, in a statement.

“As best as can be determined at this time, Ms. Harris was unknowingly exposed to the banned substance through bodily contact. In the circumstances, Ms. Harris is therefore keen to clear her name and will seek to expedite any process or mechanism to facilitate such vindication.”

There was a similar case back in 2020 when Canadian canoeist Laurence Vincent Lapointe also faced a four-year ban for having trace amounts of Ligandrol in her system. The 11-time world champion was able to return to competition as she successfully provided evidence that supported that she was the victim of third-party contamination.

Lapointe said at the time that the trace amounts could have come from bodily fluids exchanged with her former boyfriend, as Ligandrol can be transferred through saliva, sweat, and semen.

Harris’s legal counsel plans to file the appeal by the end of next week at the latest.

“As best as can be determined at this time, Ms. Harris was unknowingly exposed to the banned substance through bodily contact.”–Harris’s lawyers

Speaking with reporters in a conference call Tuesday morning, Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen explained why the organization never publicly shared any information on the matter.

“The rules stipulate that the only people who are allowed to publicly disclose the identity of an athlete who tested positive or had an adverse analytical finding is the athlete themselves or the testing agency. That was not our right as a part of signatory to the anti-doping code,” said Thiessen.

“The team, more importantly, Briane, was allowed to if she wanted to, and she’s chosen today as the day.”

Thiessen maintained players are given adequate information on doping rules and regulations.

Curling Canada is not involved in the appeal process.

“You have empathy for anybody who’s going through something, but with that being said, Curling Canada, and even when I was an athlete, we believe in safe sport and clean sport, so, that’s why we’re a signatory to the anti-doping code and why we totally support it and will continue to,” said Thiessen.

“We try to get as much information and communication to (athletes) as possible. The anti-doping information within each of our team meeting documents and comptetitor’s guides are pretty robust. There’s a lot of information and a ton of training and education that everybody goes through when they enter the testing pool or enter a national championship.”

Thiessen, who was appointed CEO in January, does not believe the Harris news took away from the Scotties or last week’s Brier in Regina.

“(Harris) reiterated to David (Murdoch, Curling Canada’s director of high performance) and I that she felt this was inadvertent. I said, ‘Then you need to go to try to prove that. That’s your right and that’s what you should try to do,’” said Thiessen.

“And I said to the team that I think (its) concentration needs to be on trying to win the 2024 national championship and that’s what they sort of did for the rest of that week. It’s hard, it’s hard for everybody, but at the end of the day, the process has to play out.”

Team Einarson posted the following statement to social media.

“We will continue to have Briane’s back through this process. She is our teammate in every sense of the word, and we will always support her and stand by her. This will be our only statement on the situation.

“As always, we will continue to curl to the best of our abilities for our team, our families, our sponsors, and our country. Thank you for the ongoing support.”

Karwacki will continue to play lead for the team this season.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31