U.S. Alpine skier Breezy Johnson has been suspended for 14 months due to failing to provide her whereabouts information for out-of-competition drug testing, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s announcement on Monday. The suspension was backdated to October 10th of the previous year, which was the third time she had failed to provide her whereabouts, triggering the suspension. Johnson’s ban will end just before the start of her World Cup season, which would typically be in December.
A whereabouts failure can involve not being available for a drug test at a specified time and place, incorrect completion of drug-testing forms, or failure to submit those forms at all. Johnson took to social media to clarify that filing failures do not equate to drug test failures, but rather an issue with testers being able to locate her. She expressed regret for disappointing her fans by not being able to race in the previous season.
As a result of the whereabouts case, Johnson sat out of the previous season. Olympic-level athletes are required to provide daily whereabouts information to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to facilitate random, out-of-competition drug testing. Athletes who accumulate three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period can face a ban of up to two years, depending on the degree of fault. USADA stated that Johnson’s level of fault was “relatively low given the circumstances of the case.”
Before a training crash in January 2022 resulting in torn cartilage in her right knee, Johnson was the world’s second-ranked downhill skier. Unfortunately, this injury ruled her out of the 2022 Winter Olympics
