Paralympic Double Amputee Banned 4 Years for Using Mircera | steroid.com

Laurens Molina Sibaja was suspended after testing positive for CERA duing an out-of-competition drug test.

Laurens Molina Sibaja, a double amputee wheelchair racer who represented Costa Rica at the 2012 London Paralympics, has been suspended for a 4-year period of ineligibility as the penalty for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV).

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced the suspension after Molina tested positive for continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) arising from an out-of-competition urine sample collected on April 20, 2017. The drug test took place in the days preceding the 2017 World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup in London.

CERA is a third-generation version of EPO sold under the brand name Mircera.

CERA (Mircera) is a third-generation erythorpoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List of Substances. CERA is essentially a long-acting version of recombinant erythropoietin (EPO).

CERA works approximately 20 times as long as EPO (first-generation ESA). It works approximately 6 times as long as darbopoietin (second-generation ESA). This means that CERA can be injected 1-2 times per month compared to 2-3 times per week like Epogen (EPO).

Molina competes in the T54 category of men’s marathon wheelchair racing. This is one of the IPC’s classifications of athletes with spinal cord injuries. Molina had both of his legs amputated above the knee as a child as the result of congenital limb impairment.

Molina placed 28th in the Men’s Marathon T54 event at the 2012 London Paralympics with a time of 1:48:25. He placed 14th in the same event at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships with a time of 1:38:32.

The 40-year old Molina will not be eligible to compete again until April 19, 2021.

Source:

IPC. (December 20, 2018). Wheelchair racer suspended for anti-doping violation. Retrieved from paralympic.org/news/wheelchair-racer-suspended-anti-doping-violation

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