This Alcohol Study was designed by Dr. Valeria Catalani, at the time, of Morgan Sports Law, London-based boutique law firm devoted to sports arbitration and litigation.

Dr. Catalani is, per her LinkedIn page, currently Manager Special project for World Anti-Doping Agency (since January 2024). Her previous role was, for period October 2022 - January 2024, of a Scientific Analyst for Morgan Sports Law.

Rhonex was under supervision for the whole period of the Study and all sample collections were video recorded. Rhonex has a complete file of

videos of how the collection of samples was conducted and these video recordings can be made available to the Panel if the Panel wishes so. 

These samples are stored at the laboratory in Eldoret and, thus, if required by the Panel or AIU, may be tested at the WADA accredited laboratory to exclude a presence of prohibited substances/methods. Rhonex is willing to submit himself to DNA testing as well, as an additional proof that these samples are indeed his.

Rhonex, on multiple occasions, has invited AIU and the Disciplinary Tribunal to take active part in the Study, including design of the protocol, supervision, anti-doping testing, medical and scientific research, etc. Unfortunately, these invitations were ignored. 

In addition, the samples collected from Rhonex over the course of several months (1 August 2023 to 7 October 2023) before the Study began are also provided. Rhonex consumed alcohol from time to time during this period.

The Study data demonstrated, within a relatively short time period (seven weeks), high variability of ABP parameters – the difference between the highest and lowest values for the relevant parameters being:

(i) HGB: 2.1 g/dL

(ii) %ret: 1%

(iii) OFFscore: 35 units

With such a degree of natural variability, it would not be surprising that an atypical passport finding for Rhonex could be reported without any doping activities.

While the ABP values cannot be directly compared to the Study and pre-Study data (due to differences in testing processes, instrumentation used, etc.), it is notable that the highest %ret value flagged in the ABP was 2.3%, and this value was matched in both the pre-Study (non-ABP) sample of 7 October 2023 and the Study sample of 29 December 2023.

17 April 2024

On some occasions the period of abstinence from alcohol may not match exactly with the absence and presence of EtG in my samples, as sometimes I did not stop drinking just before competition or because I did not recall exact periods of abstinence. After all, this table is a reconstruction of my memory several years later.