Australian triathlete Nathan Hollands, a competitor in Ironman, Half-Ironman and Triathlon events, has accepted his faith after his attempted use of anabolic steroid. Hollands has been given a two year ban as the sanction stems from a failed attempt by the 31-year-old triathlete to import anabolic steroids from Thailand.

The Triathlon Australia was responsible for imposing the said sanction after an investigation was conducted by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). The investigation on Hollands’ attempted importation started when a package on March 9, 2008 and was addressed to the triathlete was intercepted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. The said package was examined and found to contain the prohibited anabolic steroid methandienone (Dianabol) which is disguised as financial statements.

The Customs and Border Protection investigators seized the package and informed ASADA as part of the two agencies’ joint agreement in connection to illegal importation of Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs). The ASADA investigation into the importation classified a serious violation of anti-doping rules hence sanctioned Hollands of a two-year ban from sporting competition. This decision was also in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

ASADA Chairman Richard Ings explained that Hollands’ sanction on importing Dianabol “further demonstrates the Australia’s anti-doping partnership between ASADA and Customs and Border Protection investigators is successful in detecting serious doping cases that would otherwise have gone undetected.”

Hollands then waived his right to a hearing and accepted two-year ban from his sport. A former age-group winner of the Noosa Triathlon, Hollands will be again eligible to compete on May 1, 2011. Hollands’ case is also similar to Australian sprinter Nathan Allen, who was banned on 2008 for two years after winning the 2007 Stawell Gift. Allen was considered as one of the fastest men in Australia, only to be suspended and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty of importing steroids from Thailand. Allen, also known as the Queenslander, admitted that it was a stupid decision to import six vials of anabolic steroids to help him recover from his groin injury. The said injury has hampered his feat to win a berth in the Australian team for the Beijing Olympics.

Last year, an Austrian triathlete was also involved in the steroid controversy after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin commonly known as EPO on her A-Sample. Lisa Huetthaler is even investigated for attempting to bribe a laboratory employee to pass a doping test. The Kurier reported that Hutthaler offered an employee in Seibersdorf laboratory €20,000, equivalent to $31,150 to guarantee that her B-sample did not have the same positive result. Austria has also increased its efforts to eliminate doping after the 2006 Turin Olympics scandal when Italian police raided the Austrian cross-country and seized large amount of doping products and equipment.

Richard Janeczko, the Customs and Border Protection National Manager Investigation said that the partnership of the two agencies “ensures that the community is kept safe from illegal importation of drugs, and that ASADA can effectively carry out its role in ensuring that Australian sport is doping free.”

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