USADA announced today that Josh Sisson, of St. Louis, Mo., an athlete in the sport of Paralympic judo, has received a four-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation. Sisson, 35, refused to provide a sample as requested by a USADA doping control officer during an out-of-competition test on May 10, 2021. Evading sample collection or refusing or failing to submit to sample collection without compelling justification is an anti-doping rule violation under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the International Blind Sports Association Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Sisson’s four-year period of ineligibility began on May 26, 2021, the date his provisional suspension was imposed. In addition, Sisson has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to May 10, 2021, the date he refused to provide a sample, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.

• This media release was published by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on 16 June 2021. Click here for the original.