TORONTO – The 16-page report on Shawn Barber’s positive cocaine test reads in parts like an erotic short story.
Sex, drugs and a hotel rendezvous, with Canada’s world champion pole vaulter playing the starring role just weeks before his Olympic debut.
But hours after the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada released its report on the bizarre — and salacious — chain of events that led up to his doping violation, Barber chalked it up to a “learning experience.”
“There’s no reason to cry over spilt milk, and you can’t do anything about it, so might as well just smile and learn to love it,” Barber said on a conference call Thursday.
The 22-year-old from Toronto tested positive for trace amounts of the recreational drug prior to the Rio Olympics, but he was still allowed to compete in Brazil after it was ruled he inadvertently ingested the banned substance.
“I’m very happy with the process that we went to,” Barber said from Akron, Ohio, where he lives and trains. “It was quite an ordeal going into the Olympics, but everything worked out the way it was supposed to.”
The SDRCC rendered its decision on Aug. 11, four days before Barber vaulted to a 10th-place finish in Rio.
