Swimmer Banned for 1 Year, Coach for Life
Estonian anti-doping authorities handed 17-year-old swimmer Anita Stepanenko a one year ban, and her coach Nikolai Borzov a lifetime ban, on Monday after it emerged at the beginning of the month that the coach had given the swimmer steroids without her knowledge.
Stepanenko tested positive for stanozol at an Estonia vs. Finland swim tournament in May, sport.err.ee reported.
Both claimed the coach administered the steroids in secret, without the swimmer's consent.
Anti-doping authorities detected no substantial wrongdoing in Stepanenko's actions, but she is nevertheless banned until the end of July, 2014, with all her results since May of this year nullified.
“I admit I have been in deep depression recently. Most likely I lost my sense of reality, my ability to think straight. I was stupid to experiment,” Borzov, who was also caught driving while under the influence of alcohol in June, told Eesti Ekspress in mid-July.