An arbitrator officially cleared Olympic gold medalist Gil Roberts, conceding that the sprinter ingested a banned substance by means of kissing his girlfriend, according to the public case report.

Roberts, who won a gold medal at the Rio Games as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team, had been suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in May after testing positive for probenecid in his system in a March drug test.

Roberts claimed that the substance entered his system through “frequently and passionately” kissing his girlfriend -- who was treating a sinus infection with the medication Moxylong -- ahead of the drug test.

The independent arbitrator, however, helped clear Roberts through an expedited hearing — allowing him to compete in the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships and qualify for the world championships in the 400-meter run in London next month.

The arbitrator concluded that Roberts “had no idea that kissing his girlfriend could lead to his ingesting a prohibited substance. When he kissed her he did not remember the taste of medicine in her mouth. …Thus for Roberts it must have been like lightning out of a clear blue sky for him to learn by kissing his girlfriend this time that he was exposing himself to a prohibited substance. Roberts has met his burden of proof.”

Roberts’ case is similar to that of Shawn Barber, the pole vault world champion who tested positive for cocaine but actually ingested it from a female escort.

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