Daphne Schrager (Image: Getty)
British Paralympic medalist Daphne Schrager made it clear that she has “never cheated” after receiving a two-year ban for failing a drugs test.
Schrager, 25, competed for Team GB at the Paralympics in Paris in 2024 and won a silver medal, before going on to test positive for Ligandrol, a banned substance that increases muscle and bone mass.
The para-cyclist underwent an out-of-competition drugs test in April 2025 and tested positive for Ligandrol, but has insisted that she has never used banned substances.
Schrager has argued that she was exposed to environmental contamination through one of two possible scenarios. These were either at a gym where he had received a massage or at a shared residential address.
However, a National Anti-Doping Panel tribunal determined that while Schrager had not deliberately taken a banned substance, she had failed to demonstrate it was accidental environmental contamination.
Consequently, the 25-year-old was issued with a two-year competition ban, which has been backdated to commence from her initial suspension on June 2, 2025, and will conclude on June 1, 2027.
The two-year rather than four-year suspension does leave open the possibility for Schrager to potentially participate at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. In a detailed statement shared on Instagram, Schrager revealed she had arranged for hair and nail testing in an attempt to prove her innocence — but as the exact source of contamination could not be pinpointed, the suspension remained in place.
“In June last year, I received news that turned my world upside down,” she said.
“I had tested positive in an anti-doping test for a trace amount of Ligandrol, detected at 0.0006ng, resulting in my suspension from cycling since that time.
“I want to be very clear: I have never cheated, nor have I ever knowingly taken any banned substance. Facing the possibility of a four-year ban unless I could prove that the result was unintentional has been incredibly distressing.”
Daphne Schrager (Image: Getty)
The tribunal was told that Schrager rejected any suggestion of using prohibited substances and insisted she never deliberately breached the ADR. She provided testimony that the presence of Ligandrol resulted from environmental contamination rather than intentional use, either through contamination at the gym she visited two days prior to sample collection, or alternatively, environmental contamination within her shared residence.
The tribunal considered scientific testimony from multiple experts, alongside additional evidence. The experts concurred that inadvertent environmental contamination was responsible for the positive result and concluded that Schrager did not deliberately use Ligandrol.
The Tribunal was likewise satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that there was no recklessness in Schrager’s attendance at the gym, though it noted that as Schrager had been unable to establish how Ligandrol had entered her system, she had unintentionally committed anti-doping offences and was consequently handed a two-year period of ineligibility.
“In cases like mine, by the time an athlete is informed of their positive test, too much time has passed to identify the exact source of contamination with the certainty that the rules demand,” Schrager added.
“That is not a failure of honesty or effort, it is simply too much of a burden to be met in every case.
“This is one of the most difficult periods of my life. Losing my contract, my team and the structure that had long shaped my purpose and identity left me facing a level of uncertainty I had never known.”
Schrager, who has cerebral palsy, described the toll on her mental health as “significant and at times overwhelming” – yet vowed to mount her comeback in 2027.
She secured ParalympicsGB’s first medal of the 2024 Games, claiming silver in the women’s C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit.
She then went on to win two gold medals at the Para-cycling Road World Cup in May 2025 in the C2 class – only to face suspension just one month later.