A Paralympian triathlete is at risk of having his silver medal taken away after it was recently revealed he has been on suspension for a doping violation since last fall.
Ronan Cordeiro brought home Brazil’s first Paralympic medal last year from Paris after placing second in the individual event. The then-27-year-old from Parana has a congenital malformation of his left hand. The Olympics was not his first podium. We finished fifth in at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and third at the 2021 World Championships.
Cordeiro failed a drug test during the Paralympics, on the day of the competition, September 2. The test revealed the anabolic androgenic steroid, norandrostenediol, was in his system. He was put on provisional suspension in October, 2024. The suspension was not revealed publicly, until last week when it was published in a bulletin of the International Testing Agency.
Case still outstanding
Although the suspension has prevented Cordeiro from competing since last year, his case has not gone to a judge yet. Until the outcome of his case is determined, a possible punishment is unknown. It also remains to be determined if he will lose his medal.
American Chris Hammer won the event, while German Martin Schulz took bronze. Cordeiro came out of the swim in second, overtaking the leader in transition and starting the bike at the front. He dropped back to fifth place by T2, but ran himself into second place after a thrilling battle between him and Hammer.
At the time of his victory, Cordeiro told the publication ge that he had trained for eight months outside of Brazil in the two years leading into Paris, on “a mission to break this paradigm in triathlon.”
“I did my first altitude training, and look at the results I got. I wanted to win gold. I risked everything. I give it my all in swimming. I gave it my all in cycling, and I paid dearly in running.”
Once the evidence is reviewed by a judge, it will be revealed if Cordeiro did in fact “risk it all” for Olympic glory.
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