The last time I remember an Olympic athlete being busted for marijuana was 10 years ago and it was a snowboarder. You would think an Olympic athlete, or any professional athlete would be very careful about what they put into their bodies.
Yet one American has been sent home from the Olympics following a failed drug test for cannabis. As reported in espn.go.com.
American judo fighter Nick Delpopolo was expelled from the Olympics for doping. His excuse - he unintentionally ate something before the Games that had been baked with marijuana.
Delpopolo is the first of the 10,500 London Games athletes to fail an in-competition doping test. His case is the fifth positive test for a banned substance reported by the IOC since the Olympic body started its London testing program in mid-July. The other four were caught before competing.
Delpopolo was not going to win any medals this year. He finished 7th in the 73-kilogram class, where he beat opponents from Hong Kong and Belgium, then lost to fighters from South Korea and Mongolia.
The 23-year-old judoka from Westfield, N.J., blamed his positive test on his accidental consumption of a food item baked with marijuana before the Olympics. You know what – I believe him. Marijuana, because it binds to fatty tissue, can remain in the bloodstream for up to 30 days.
Delpopolo was born Petra Perovic in the former Yugoslavia and was adopted by an American family.
A good drug class might be in order for Mr. Delpopolo. There is no way he should make a mistake by using any type of banned drug. Cannabis should be a pretty easy one to avoid.