Oliveira suspended for illegal supplement

The US Anti-doping Agency (USADA) announced a two-year suspension for Flavia Oliveira, a California resident who tested positive for oxilofrine, an illegal stimulant, while racing with the Italian professional team SC Michela Fanini at the Giro del Trentino Donne in June, 2009.

The positive test was found to be the result of a weight-loss supplement called Hyperdrive 3.0. While athletes who test positive due to tainted supplements can receive reduced suspsensions under WADA rules, arbitrators placed "significant fault" on Oliveira since the ingredient Mythelsynephrine, the chemical equivalent of oxilofrine, is listed as the supplement's first ingredient on the label.

"Oliveira's two year period of ineligibility began July 19, 2009, the day her sample was collected. As a result of the doping violation, Oliveira has also been disqualified from all competitive results achieved at and subsequent to the Giro del Trentino Donne, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes," the press release stated.

Oliveira placed fourth overall in the Tour Féminin en Limousin and ninth in the La Route de France last year.

USADA recently began an initiative called "Supplement Safety Now" in partnership with the US Olympic Committee and major professional sports organisations "as an effort to end the dangerous and unscrupulous practices of some manufacturers within the nutritional supplement industry."

The effort is aimed at lobbying the US Congress regulate over-the-counter supplements to ensure they are safe and free of dangerous steroids and other drugs.