Libertyville Olympic Gymnast Gets 6-Month Doping Ban

An Olympic rhythmic gymnast from Libertyville has received a six-month suspension after testing positive for a banned drug, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials announced this past week. Laura Zeng, who swept the 2018 Pan American Championships in Peru in September, will be banned from competing and must forfeit any medals, points and prizes obtained over the past couple months. On Oct. 18, Zeng, 19, tested positive for acetazolamide, which is a banned diuretics and masking agent, according to a news release from the USADA.

The drug is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policies, and the International Gymnastics Federation Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List, according to a news release from the USADA.

Zeng told officials the banned substance came from an altitude sickness medication, which was prescribed to a parent, and which was given to her in response to an illness she experienced while traveling in a high-altitude location. Zeng said she believed she’d been given ibuprofen and, therefore, did not have or apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption, which is required to authorize the use of a prohibited substance in sport, according to the news release.

Zeng trains at the North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center. In 2016, she made history by placing 11th at the U.S. Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which was the highest place a U.S. rhythmic gymnast received since 1984.

This past year, she has been taking home the gold at many high-profile competitions and swept the 2018 Pan American championships, a high-profile international competition. In July, she won her fourth straight gold medal at the USA Gymnastics Championships.

Photo caption: Laura Zeng at the 2016 Olympics/Photo credit: The U.S. Olympics Facebook page