USADA imposes one-year sanction on Daton Fix for anti-doping rule violation

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Oklahoma State University wrestler Daton Fix has received a one-year suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency for a failed drug test conducted on January 22, 2020.

Fix is a former undefeated four-time State Champion out of Charles Page High School in Sand Springs. He was a Big 12 Champion and NCAA Runner-Up as a redshirt freshman, then took an Olympic redshirt this past season to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which have since been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fix, 22, tested positive for ostarine as a result of an out-of-competition drug test conducted on January 22, 2020. Ostarine is a Non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policies, and the United World Wrestling Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

The panel found that Fix ingested ostarine by drinking from a water bottle, which contained a supplement mixture as well as ostarine that his father had prepared for himself but left in the family’s refrigerator. Fix explained he was unaware that his father had added ostarine to the supplement mixture.

According to the AAA Commercial Arbitration Tribunal documents, Fix’s father, Derek Fix, a former CPHS Varsity Assistant Coach, had been using ostarine (under the name MK-2866) daily for several weeks without his son’s knowledge. Daton Fix consumed the beverage the weekend before traveling to the United World Wrestling Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome, Italy.

Daton Fix submitted to a voluntary polygraph examination on February 22, 2020. The test determined that Fix was not being deceptive when he said he had not knowingly consumed anything containing ostarine. He also submitted the ten supplements he had been using to Korva Labs in Los Angeles, and ostarine contamination was not detected in any of them. He did not learn until after those test results were received that his father had been using the substance.

At the AAA arbitration, Dr. Matthew Fedoruk, USADA’s Chief Science Officer, opined that Fix’s explanation for how he ingested ostarine and the amount ingested is consistent with the very low level of ostarine in his sample. The USADA concluded that the ingestion was likely accidental and not intended to enhance his athletic performance, and that Fix’s degree of fault was low.

Under the Code, an athlete’s period of ineligibility for using a prohibited substance may be reduced if the athlete’s anti-doping rule violation was unintentional and the athlete lacks significant fault for the violation. The panel agreed that a three-year reduction to the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility was appropriate.

Fix’s one-year period of ineligibility began on February 10, 2020, the date his provisional suspension was imposed. In addition, Fix has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on January 22, 2020 through the date of provisional suspension, February 10, 2020, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.

Because the suspension will end in February, Fix will still be eligible to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics next July in Tokyo.