Jeroni Fajardo is living one of his most bittersweet moments in sports. On the one hand, his performance as a rider is probably the best of his entire career as a driver, with regular results on the podium and manifesting himself as one of Toni Bou’s main rivals.
On the other hand, the circumstances of crisis at Gas Gas, which has prevented him from completing the Spanish Championship and compromises his resources as an elite rider. And to this point we must add the resolution reached by the FIM after an analysis carried out on the rider at the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. In this medical test, heptaminol was found in the driver’s urine, a substance banned by the FIM anti-doping rules.
The FIM resolution, made public on September 20, 2019, indicates that Jeroni Fajardo has a 12-month sporting suspension as a sanction, counting from September 16, 2018 to September 16, 2019. In other words, the Spanish GP held in La Nucía will be the only one where Fajardo will be able to score, disappearing from the classification in the rest of the GP.
This is how Jeroni Fajardo himself explained it:
Through this communication I inform that today the agreement I have reached with the latter has been published by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), by which a period of suspension of 12 months has been imposed on me, starting from September 16, 2018.
On January 23, 2019, I was informed by the FIM that the analysis of the urine sample that was collected from me on September 16, 2018 at the Trial World Championship event in Arco di Trento (Italy), revealed the presence of heptaminol, a prohibited substance in accordance with the FIM anti-doping rules.
At that time, I was completely unaware of how the substance had entered my body, as I have never tried to resort to prohibited substances or methods to improve my athletic performance. In 19 years of competition at the highest level, I have been subjected to numerous anti-doping controls and none of them resulted in an adverse analytical finding.
Faced with the uncertainty, I proceeded to request the full report from the laboratory that had analyzed my sample, which revealed the presence of another substance called octodrine. According to the report, “the presence of heptaminol in the urine sample may be the result of octodrine ingestion […] Heptaminol can be metabolized in the body through a hydroxylation process.”
It was at that moment that I understood that something beyond my knowledge had happened, so I decided to have the support of experts to determine the cause of the presence of heptaminol in my urine sample and to be able to prove my innocence.
The conclusion reached was that the nutritional supplement called “Nox Pump”, which he had taken on the same day as the sample was collected, could have been the reason for the adverse analytical finding. Indeed, despite the fact that the product leaflet did not mention any prohibited substances, our analysis of the supplement confirmed the presence of natural octodrine, which can be found in extracts of Kigelia africana.
In short, the heptaminol that had been found in my urine sample was the result of a process of metabolization of another substance called octodrine, which was also found in the sample in a smaller proportion.
Based on the above circumstances, the allegations made, and the evidence submitted by me, FIM has expressly acknowledged that the adverse analytical finding was caused by the use of the nutritional supplement Nox Pump. As the FIM itself admits in its statement, at no time have I had any intention of deceiving or improving my sporting performance by using such a product.
Despite all this, and in application of the principle of quasi-objective liability that operates in anti-doping regulations, the FIM has decided to impose a 12-month suspension period on me, starting on September 16, 2018. By virtue of the above, the only consequence of the sanction imposed is the annulment of the results obtained from 16 September 2018 to 16 September 2019.
I would not like to end this statement without thanking all those people who have supported me during these difficult months that I have had to live. Especially to my family and to the professionals who have advised me and who have allowed me to take part in the last round of the Trial World Championship today.
Jeroni Fajardo.
