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26 August 2025
The ITA reports that weightlifter Sophia Shania Bedward has agreed¹ to the consequences for her anti-doping rule violation (ADRV).
Shania Sophia Bedward provided a sample collected under the testing authority of the IWF during an unannouced in-competiton doping control performed on 19 September 2024 during the 2024 Commonwealth Senior Weightlifting Championships, Suva, Fiji, which yielded an adverse analytical finding² (AAF) for Modafinil metabolite (Modafinil Acid).
Modafinil is listed under class S6. Stimulants according to the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It is prohibited in-competition and is classified as a non-specified substance. This substance stimulates and accelerates the body functions and is inter alia used for the treatment of sleeping disorders such as narcolepsy.
When notified of the case, the athlete was provisionally suspended with immediate effect.
The athlete did not challenge the ADRV and agreed with the consequences proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved via and acceptance of consequences.
The athlete’s period of ineligibility is from 19 September 2024 until 18 September 2026. In addition, all the athlete’s competitive results as from 19 September 2024 are disqualified.
The decision may be challenged before the appeal division of the Court of Arbitration of Sport by the parties with a right of appeal in accordance with Article 13.2.3 of the IWF anti-doping rules.
The ITA will not comment further on this case.
¹ Athletes have the right to choose not to have their case referred to a hearing panel. In these instances, the anti-doping organisation will assess the athlete’s case file and establish the applicable consequences pursuant to the anti-doping rules and the athlete will have the right to accept the proposed consequences. If the athlete refuses the proposed consequences, the case is transferred to a hearing panel. This resolution mechanism is provided for in articles 8.3.1 of the IWF anti-doping rules and 8.3 of the World Anti-Doping Code and is commonly referred to as an agreement on consequences and is deemed an IWF/ITA decision.
² A report from a WADA-accredited laboratory that, consistent with the International Standard for Laboratories, establishes in a sample the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers or evidence of the use of a prohibited method.
