Really? Taurasi Denies Using PEDs After Testing Positive

In equal-opportunity cheating news, this week Diana Taurasi—maybe the best women’s basketball player in the world—joined the long, long list of elite athletes who deny having taken a banned substance they tested positive for. Taurasi didn’t invent an elaborate excuse, like when cyclist Tyler Hamilton claimed he had an unborn twin’s blood cells in his body; she just said "There's no way I've ever taken anything," and left it at that.

The drug she tested positive for is modafinil, which is used as medication for narcolepsy and other sleep-related disorders. It isn’t an amphetamine, but it has similar effects; people who take it can stay awake longer and feel less tired. The state of Maryland authorizes police officers to take it when they need to stay awake for long periods in emergencies. An athlete would take it to allow herself to exercise or play for longer without feeling fatigued—the effects appear to be similar to that of the “greenies” (amphetamines) that were in widespread use in Major League Baseball in the 1970s and 80s.

The positive test occurred in Turkey, where Taurasi was playing for the Fenerbahee club (female basketball players often earn much more money playing overseas). The team cut her after both of her urine samples tested positive for modafinil, and Taurasi could face a ban from the 2012 Olympics if the two-year suspension from the Turkish league isn’t overturned on appeal. It’s worth noting that the Turkish drug testing policy is far harsher than the WNBA’s, where positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs result in only a five-game suspension. No WNBA player has ever been caught by the league.

Taurasi is sticking to her story—she didn’t even know what modafinil was until she tested positive for it, she says. Even though both of her samples came back positive for the drug, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of a false positive, and the lab where the testing occurred has been suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency. But we’ve seen world-class athletes like Alex Rodriguez go on television and deny they ever used PEDs while keeping a straight face, only to have their lies revealed later. Unfortunately for Taurasi, the burden of proof is on her.