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Hammer thrower Mark Dry says he has been “thrown under the bus” for his four-year ban for a doping rule violation.
The double Commonwealth Games medalist has asked the athletics authorities for help in bringing his anti-doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), as he continues his fight to clear his name.
But in his first interview since he was sanctioned in February, the Scotsman told BBC Sport that the saga had “become his worst nightmare.”
“This is a huge judicial error, and it is really discouraging,” he said. “But I will not sit on this and be harassed because I am poor.”
Dry was initially approved by a national anti-doping panel after admitting to wrongly claiming that he had gone fishing the day he missed a drug test in 2018.
However, it was subsequently banned after the UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) appealed the decision, and was found guilty of tampering.
His legal team argued that the court’s ruling was “unfair” and “wrong,” and that his punishment was “extremely disproportionate.”
Dry has contacted Scottish Athletics, UK Athletics (UKA), the Athletics Integrity Unit and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to request that his case be reviewed and brought to Cas.
Under Ukad rules, an individual cannot appeal against the courts of appeal.
The Scotsman and his legal team have argued that this has “the potential to violate athletes’ individual rights,” but said the lack of a positive response suggested that “he had no route to move, it is discouraging.”
In April, UKA told Dry that his appeal had exhausted the disciplinary process under its rules, and that it would be for World Athletics, AIU or Wada to consider the case.
Ukad Executive Director Nicole Sapstead said Dry’s offense was “a serious violation” and “undermines the anti-doping process that athletes and the public depend on for relying on clean sport.”
He added that the court “operates independently of Ukad” and “brings objective scrutiny to the cases.” The sanction, he said, was “in accordance with applicable anti-doping regulations.”
UK Athletics has declined to comment.
What is the bottom line?
Dry was initially charged a year ago, after giving false information in October 2018 after unintentionally breaking the “whereabouts” anti-doping rules.
He says he had forgotten to tell the authorities exactly where he would be, but then “panicked” and told Ukad “a white lie” that he had gone fishing, when in fact he had been with his parents in Scotland.
“He had been on the show since 2012,” he told BBC Sport. “I filled it up every day, and I just forgot. I went to my parents’ house, but drug testers came to examine me at my house and I wasn’t there.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly, I wasn’t training [because of a hip injury]. I thought my career was over, I just wasn’t paying attention to anything.
“Did I get an email about it asking why I wasn’t at that address? I panicked and said I was fishing, instead of saying ‘I was with my parents and forgot to complete the paperwork.'”
Dry and his partner wrote to Ukad saying that he had been fishing, even though a neighbor had told inspectors that he had traveled to Scotland. Then he admitted the truth.
The panel ruled that the lie did not constitute manipulation, in part because no sanctions would have been received for the failure of the filing, which was a first offense.
However, Ukad appealed the decision and in February a court said the Scot had “lied” to “subvert the anti-doping process.”
‘It’s a cherry harvest and it’s gross’
“I was given four years when there are drug traps getting one month, three months, six months, two years for knowingly and voluntarily taking anabolic steroids to gain an advantage,” Dry said.
“I made a human mistake, a mistake I admitted. I just got thrown under the bus. It’s a parody, and by sport it’s a dangerous decision. Set a horrible precedent for an abuse of power. You can’t just use me as a stick to threaten others.
“Clearly it’s choosing who they want to target and who they don’t want to target in these situations, and I think it’s unpleasant. It’s time for athletes and organizations to come together and come together.”
“It is about defending what is right in sport. You cannot allow this to happen. You cannot have people on the panels of athletes who are supposed to be there to be heard … and they are simply fired.”
“It is scary that there is no one to answer for this. We have been in the authorities and no one answers us, we have nowhere to go. Who am I going to do justice?”
‘I will not be intimidated because I am poor’
Dry’s case has been supported by the representative body Global Athlete, which says it is “amazed” by the case and has asked UKA, World Athletics and Wada to support the hammer thrower’s attempted appeal.
Wada President Witold Banka replied that he was “committed to ensuring that athletes’ rights are respected.”
But Dry, who now can’t compete until 2023, says the punishment threatens to end his career.
“This is over for me,” he said. “Financially, it has destroyed me and my family trying to defend myself, something that we really cannot afford to do. But I will not sit on this and be harassed because I am poor.”
“I know I’m not a big-name athlete and that’s fine, that’s not why I’m in it. But it shouldn’t be about how much money you have or who you’re connected to.”
“It should be about what is right and what is wrong and this is not right. This is a huge judicial error and it is dangerous, disappointing and really discouraging.”
