A British Cycling spokesperson said: “Following today’s announcement of the decision by UK Anti-Doping to suspend Erin McBride – a visually impaired sprinter inducted into British Cycling’s Paralympic World Class Programme in early 2021 – as the result of an adverse analytical finding for the banned substance Ostarine, we are able to comment on a matter which until now has been protected by her right to confidentiality.
“British Cycling supported UKAD in their efforts to investigate the circumstances of Erin’s adverse analytical finding as part of our commitment to clean sport.
"The finding followed an out of competition test on March 3rd this year and we received notification of the result on April 15th. Because Ostarine is a substance that is prohibited at all times, Erin – who had signed as a full member of the team on March 16th but had never competed for Great Britain – was suspended from all sport immediately on receipt of her adverse analytical finding.
“British Cycling offers our full backing to UKAD’s decision – as the UK’s anti-doping regulations make clear, each athlete is responsible for any banned substances found in their body unless they are able to fully demonstrate otherwise.
“All riders on the Great Britain Cycling Team are given anti-doping education that follows the most recent version of the UKAD Clean Sport Curriculum as we want to ensure that all our riders are fully aware of the risks associated with supplements and how they can reduce those risks.
"This includes the warning that supplement products can pose a significant risk to athletes in terms of unintentional doping. In many cases the presence of a prohibited substance in a supplement arises from unintentional contamination. We advise our riders to be vigilant in their decision to use any such products and remind them that no guarantee can be given that any particular supplement is free from prohibited substances.”
