‘You Will Dominate’: Texts Reveal Texas Naturopath’s Role in Olympic Sprinter’s Doping
A Texas therapist who specializes in natural remedies has been arrested by the FBI in the first case under the U.S.’s new anti-doping act. Eric Lira is accused of peddling performance-enhancing drugs to two athletes during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Court documents unsealed Wednesday charged Lira with violating the Rodchenkov Act, which went into effect in December 2020 and was named after a Russian doping whistleblower. The act bans the marketing and selling of prohibited substances in international sports competitions, including the Olympics.
Lira allegedly supplied performance-enhancing drugs during the Games, which were held in 2021, to two athletes identified in a criminal complaint only as Athlete-1 and Athlete-2. Based on several identifiable details, Athlete-1 appears to be Nigerian runner Blessing Okagbare, who was suspended for doping just hours before her Olympic 100-meter semi-final in July.