(UPDATE) THE International Testing Agency (ITA) announced that Filipino Olympian weightlifter Vanessa Sarno will face a two-year ineligibility period over an anti-doping offense.

Sarno was sanctioned over three whereabouts failures during a 12-month period.

Filipino weightlifter Vanessa Sarno banned for 2 years for anti-doping violation

“Vanessa Sarno committed three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period. The athlete did not challenge the anti-doping rules violation [ADRV] and agreed with the consequences proposed by the ITA. Accordingly, the case was resolved via an acceptance of consequences,” the ITA said in a statement.

Sarno’s ban started Aug. 4 and will end on Aug. 3, 2027. She is expected to miss the upcoming 2025 Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December, as it is covered by the ineligibility period.

“Additionally, all the athlete’s individual competitive results from the date of commission of the ADRV (Jan. 1, 2025) until the start of the period of ineligibility are disqualified, including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes,” the ITA said.

“Athletes included in a registered testing pool (RTP), such as Vanessa Sarno, have the obligation to provide daily whereabouts as well as a specific daily 60-minute time slot where they will be available for testing. The purpose is to allow anti-doping organizations to locate athletes for unannounced out-of-competition testing,” it added., This news data comes from:http://eqfw-pxl-cip-ng.redcanaco.com

“Any combination of three missed tests (which relate to the athletes’ unavailability with respect to their 60-minute time slot) and/or filing failures (which are caused by the athletes’ failure to provide accurate whereabouts) committed within a 12-month period amounts to an ADRV as per article 2.4 of the [International Weightlifting Federation Anti-Doping Rules] and World Anti-Doping Code. The consequences for such ADRV are a period of Ineligibility between one and two years and the disqualification of results obtained since the date of the ADRV, namely the date of the occurrence of the third whereabouts failure,” the anti-doping body added.

Sarno participated in last year’s Paris Olympics in the women’s 71-kilogram event but did not finish, as she failed to clear any of her first lifts.

Sarno won two gold medals in the SEA Games — in the 2021 edition in Vietnam and in 2023 in Cambodia.

She also bagged a gold medal in the 2020 Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.