News

Another Banned Athlete Competes at Local Comp without Event Director’s Knowledge

October 13, 2021 by
Photo Credit: Fanny Solis
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Last weekend, another athlete who is currently serving a multi-year drug-related suspension from CrossFit competed in a non-licensed competition and earned $2,000 in prize money. Fanny Solis, who is nearing the end (June 2022) of her four-year suspension for stanozolol, an anabolic agent, took second in the M/F elite team competition at the Crash Crucible in Spartanburg, SC. Once again, the organizer said he was unaware that one of the registered athletes was currently banned. 

  • As we noted, non-licensed events are free to allow athletes to compete at their discretion and athletes are also not required to notify organizers unless an event requires it. 

The details: Three years ago, the drug sanction was issued to Stephanie Araujo, whose full name is Stephanie Solis Araujo. Her CrossFit Games profile lists her as Fanny Solis Araujo. 

  • According to Solis, she goes by Fanny Solis: “I’m Stephanie Solis and I always register like this to compete…I hardly ever use the Araujo, only in ‘official’ records.”
  • A conversation with a Mexican member of Morning Chalk Up staff confirms this is a common practice in Mexico. 
  • “I just want to make clear that it was not like that,” Solis told Morning Chalk Up. 
  • According to the organizer James Howell, “​​the athlete did not register for Crucible under the same name that they went by when their failed drug test occurred.”
  • Howell: “Despite the fact that CRASH Crucible isn’t a @crossfitgames sanctioned event, I do my best to hold it to the same standards, from the workout structure and flow to ensuring a level playing field for all of the competitors. I have reached out to those athletes who were directly affected by the participant on the leaderboard, and I appreciate their understanding. I apologize for not doing a better job to research thoroughly enough.”

It’s important to note that Howell denied access to Stephanie Roy, who enquired about competing prior to being issued a drug ban, but was subsequently notified that she would be ineligible after the positive test became public

  • Howell: “I was flattered and honored to know that a two-time Masters champ would think of my competition as a way to test herself against other elite females in the sport.”
  • After Roy found out she failed her drug test at the Games she contacted Crash [Crucible] and heard back from James Howell, the event director right away. “He showed me lots of empathy and wished me good luck”, but ultimately he told her she could not compete at his event while being banned by CrossFit. 
  • Howell: “Ultimately I didn’t think letting her compete would foster a level playing field among the other competitors.”

The bottom line: This is now the third athlete in recent weeks to compete in a non-licensed event while serving a drug-related suspension. It’s also the second competition unaware that an athlete standing on the podium was under suspension, exposing an information gap in the CrossFit industry as there’s no public database of athletes currently serving a ban. 

  • As a result, Morning Chalk Up has created and will maintain, a list of all publicly known sanctions.
  • This list was populated over the last 24 hours using publicly available information originally published by CrossFit. It may be incomplete.
  • If there are athletes missing from this list currently serving a sanction, please email [email protected]

Food for thought: Perhaps, as an additional measure, events could ask if athletes are currently serving a drug-related suspension from CrossFit on the registration form.

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