Athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall stripped of her title after testing positive for cannabis

American long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall has been stripped of her recent national indoor title and handed a one-month suspension after testing positive for cannabis, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced on Tuesday.

USADA reported that Davis-Woodhall had been tested positive for THC. Her positive test came from a sample taken in competition at the 2023 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 17, the same day she won the title with a jump of 6.99 meters.

Davis-Woodhall, 23, has already completed her suspension, which she began serving on March 21.

The positive test resulted in the loss of her title, as she was disqualified from all competition results obtained on and after February 17, including the withdrawal of all medals, points and prizes.

Despite increasing legalization of cannabis in the United States and some sports leagues like the NBA or MMA THC is still considered a prohibited substance under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

«WADA solicits comments on the updated version of the Prohibited List each year,» states the USADA press release. «USADA has and will continue to advocate to WADA, which sets the rules, that marijuana be treated in a fairer and more effective manner to identify true competition use.»

According to AMA rules, THC allows for a reduced suspension of three months if the athlete establishes that the substance was taken out of competition and is not related to athletic performance. USADA indicated that Davis-Woodhall's case was reduced to one month for these reasons and because she had completed a substance abuse treatment program for her cannabis use.

In 2021, U.S. sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson had clinched her place at the Tokyo Olympics with a crushing victory in the women's 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon, before being stripped of her title after testing positive for cannabis.

Richardson was suspended for one month. USA Track and Field chose not to select her for the women's 4×100-meter relay team after her suspension ended, leaving Richardson off the Olympic team.