New Zealand’s Olivia Ray Accepts Doping Sanction from USADA

• Professional cyclist Olivia Ray from New Zealand has been suspended for two and half years after an investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Association found that she was using banned substances.

• Ray claimed she was supplied the performance-enhancing drugs by her now ex-boyfriend and fellow professional cyclist Jackson “Huntley” Nash.

• Ray’s sentence was reduced by 18 months reduction due to her cooperation in the investigation, but all her results dating back to May 17, 2021 have been stripped.

The United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) announced the two and a half year suspension of 24-year-old road racer Olivia Ray. Her suspension was lessened thanks to her cooperation in her own investigation as well as the investigation into Jackson “Huntley” Nash, who was given a lifetime ban by USADA last month for doping violations.

The investigation began with a tip to USADA in late 2021, which alleged that Ray was using multiple banned substances. When confronted with the allegations, Ray cooperated fully with USADA, and admitted she had been provided prohibited substances by fellow athlete Nash—her now ex-boyfriend.

The substances included Human Growth Hormone (hGH), clenbuterol, and oxandrolone. Clenbuterol is only approved for veterinary use in the US, and has effects similar to hGH but can also boost athlete’s ability to breathe harder in exercise and help boost weight loss. Oxandrolone is an anabolic steroid.

However, before dismissing this case as a cut-and-dry doping investigation, the context for how and why Ray was taking PEDs is important. At the same time as Ray was being investigated, the same whistleblower put former racer Nash was also under investigation. He eventually received a lifetime ban for USADA for doping violations of his own as well as trafficking and administering banned substances to Ray:

• Use or Attempted Use of Prohibited Substances, including testosterone, clenbuterol, oxandrolone, and anastrozole

• Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any Part of Doping Control by interfering with USADA’s investigation

• Possession of Prohibited Substances, including testosterone, clenbuterol, oxandrolone, and anastrozole

• Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking of Prohibited Substances clenbuterol and oxandrolone to another athlete

• Administration or Attempted Administration of Prohibited Substances human growth hormone, clenbuterol, and oxandrolone to another athlete

• Complicity or Attempted Complicity by encouraging another athlete to use prohibited substances

• Retaliation by filing a meritless petition for a protective order against an individual based in part on the individual’s report to USADA of Nash’s anti-doping rule violations

Nash has also been accused of domestic violence by Ray and other women, according to Cycling Tips. After documents from USA Cycling and USADA, Cycling Tips also noted that findings against Nash showed that he “had abused two other claimants, including having committed physical abuse, confinement, and withholding of medication.”

In an interview in July, Ray admitted to taking the banned substances, and said she wasn’t forced to do so by Nash, but she was pressured to. She never tested positive for any banned substance, but admitted to using the PEDs when the investigation was launched. In the same interview, she contends that what she did take didn’t actually improve her performance, and that she only was using the PEDs for a short period.

Thanks to her full cooperation and aid in the case against Nash, she received an 18-month reduction on her sentence, which normally would have been for four years. Ray’s 30-month period of ineligibility officially began on March 10, 2022—the day before she was quietly cut from her team’s roster.

Ray has been be stripped of her results dating from May 17, 2021, onward. The results included a win at the 2022 Road National Championships in her native New Zealand. It also includes her win at the inaugural Into the Lion’s Den criterium last fall, a race that had a prize purse of $40,000. In March of 2022, she was quietly removed from the Human Powered Health roster, and the team still has not commented on the ban.

Cycling Tips has also reported that Cycling New Zealand agrees with the ban but sent a statement saying that the organization “will continue to reach out to Ray to provide support during this challenging time for the rider.”

“This case demonstrates the power of investigations in the fight to protect sport and athletes’ rights,” said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart in USADA’s press release. “As always, we will thoroughly investigate and act on evidence of doping violations, and greatly appreciate the assistance of those who come forward on behalf of clean sport.”

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