A North Vancouver rugby player suspended for an anti-doping rule violation opened up about his situation last week, telling the North Shore News that he took a prohibited substance while rehabbing a knee injury he sustained while playing the sport.
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport recently announced that Jeff McKinnon received a two-year worldwide competition ban after failing an in-competition drug test. McKinnon said that while experiencing debilitating pain from a torn meniscus this spring, he decided to use an illegal steroid instead of waiting for arthroscopic surgery after having an "out-of-office" consultation with a sports doctor.
"The whole reason behind it was personal reasons towards getting my life back pain free," he said, adding that he was not seeking any performance enhancing benefits.
McKinnon, 21, is a former member of Canada's junior national team. His suspension stems from a positive test coming after he was a last-minute call-up for the B.C. Bears provincial team in August.
"At the end of the day what you put in your body is your own fault. I put something into my body that I knew was on the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) prohibited list and I knew that if I was to get drug tested I would have tested positive," he said. "I want to apologize to the BCRU (British Columbia Rugby Union), Capilano Rugby, the rugby community on the North Shore, Carson Graham and, above all else, my family."
McKinnon, a fourth-year student at the University of British Columbia, said he hopes to get back into coaching, refereeing and playing the sport recreationally when his suspension ends on Aug. 2, 2013.
