What the…
We really thought her case would get dismissed and she’d be clear from any doping violation but that’s not the case.
The STJD (The Superior Court of Justice in Sports) has suspended the 2012 Olympic gold medalist for 60 days. The decision stems from last June when the 24 year old was tested positive for 16ot-OH-prednisolone.
Prednisolone: Treats inflammation (swelling), allergies, arthritis, asthma, skin conditions, kidney problems, and many other medical problems. Also treats flare-ups of ongoing illnesses such as multiple sclerosis. May be used for some symptoms of cancer. This medicine is a corticosteroid (steroid).
Natalia stated that she needed the drug to treat her asthma. Initially, there was an error on how the test was conducted & the STJD even apologized to Natalia who had to be excluded from Brazil’s roster for the ongoing 2013 Grand Prix.
She has been suspended since June and will only serve 27 days to complete the suspension.
Natalia says…
“My conscience is in peace because it was a medication I always took because of my asthma. They result showed that the level of the drug in my system was more than the limit. I wanted to turn the page and solve this. I was hoping I was gonna be cleared because I did nothing wrong. For a moment, I feared for a bigger punishment. Now I’ll pay the rest of the punishment, with my mind in peace. I’ll rest a bit in São Paulo and then go back to training as soon as possible.”
Natália was accompanied by Ney Pecegueiro, Unilever’s doctor, and attorney Guilherme Rezende, who is the brother of Coach Rezende.
After the inactivity period, Natalia can now train and play for her Brazilian club team Volei Amil together with Tandara and American spiker Kristin Richards Hildebrand in September.
