Paralympics cycling medalist Schrager banned 2 years for positive doping test

LONDON (AP) — Paralympics cycling silver medalist Daphne Schrager was banned for two years on Friday after testing positive for an anabolic substance not approved for medical use.

The National Anti-Doping Panel which judged the British athlete’s case accepted she did not intentionally use ligandrol but noted she did not prove how it accidentally entered her system, possibly at a gym.

Schrager’s two-year ban expires in June next year, leaving the 25-year-old cyclist eligible to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.

“I want to be very clear,” the 2024 Paris Paralympics medalist in track pursuit posted on her Instagram account, “I have never cheated, nor have I ever knowingly taken any banned substance.”

Schrager also is a two-time gold medalist at track world championships. On the road, Schrager took silvers in time trial and road race at the 2024 para-cycling worlds in Zurich.

Schrager tested positive for ligandrol in an out-of-competition sample taken in April 2025.

She suggested to investigators she had been contaminated at the gym or at the home she shared with others. Expert witnesses supported her theory at the tribunal, the judges said.

“The tribunal was also satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that there was no recklessness in Ms Schrager’s attendance at the gym,” the judges wrote, imposing a two-year ban as she could not prove the source of contamination.

AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games