USADA announced today that Christian Buckley, of Frankfort, Ky., an athlete in the sport of weightlifting, has accepted a three-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation. Buckley, 24, tested positive for ostarine (enobosarm) as the result of a sample collected in competition at the Junior and U25 Nationals on June 30, 2021. Ostarine is a Non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and it is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the International Weightlifting Federation Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

Under Article 10.8.1 of the 2021 Code, an athlete who faces an anti-doping rule violation that carries a period of ineligibility of four or more years may receive a one-year sanction reduction if the athlete admits the violation and accepts the asserted sanction within 20 days of notification of the alleged anti-doping rule violation charge. Per the rule, Buckley qualified for a one-year reduction to the otherwise applicable four-year period of ineligibility.

Buckley’s three-year period of ineligibility began on August 3, 2021, the date his provisional suspension was imposed. In addition, Buckley has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to June 30, 2021, the date his positive sample was collected, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.

• This media release was published by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on 25 August 2021. Click here for the original.