OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Star Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber tested positive for cocaine before the Rio Olympics following a tryst with a woman he met on Craigslist.
The 2015 world champion was permitted to compete in Brazil after it was determined he inadvertently ingested trace amounts of the banned substance through kissing. Barber called the positive test “a complete shock.”
The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada made its decision Aug. 11, four days before Barber competed in Rio de Janeiro, where he finished 10th. The report wasn’t released until Thursday.
“It was quite an ordeal going into the Olympics, but everything worked out the way it was supposed to,” Barber said during a conference call.