Over the years, many female athletes have risen to high praise and acclaim in their sports of choice. But just like their male counterparts, there have been several female athletes caught doping. Female athlete steroid use has disqualified women of all types from competing in international contests. Some of the most celebrated competitors have been brought down (and had their accolades stripped) because of failed drug tests or shady meds. This list rounds up most of the female athlete drug scandals in recent history. Check out these high caliber female athletes caught with performance enhancing drugs. If you're thinking of getting into sports, let them be a lesson to stay clean.
Female Athletes Caught Doping,
Crystal Cox
Cox was a swift Olympian, winning the gold medal in the 4x400 relay race in 2004 Olympic Games. But she was stripped of her medal after she admitted to using anabolic steroids from 2001 to 2004.
Florence Griffith Joyner
Joyner was an accomplished sprinter who won three gold medals in the 1988 Olympic Games. However, despite passing her drug tests, many critics believed she had been taking performance enhancing steroids due to the huge improvement in her run times from the previous year, and how much muscle she had grown in such a short amount of time. Joyner retired in her prime in 1988 amidst the speculation. She passed away ten years later.
Hope Solo
Solo is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup gold medalist as a goalkeeper in soccer, but she might have had a little help. Just before she competed in the 2012 Olympic Games, Solo failed a urine test. The test detected Canrenone, a banned substance, in her system. She claimed it was from a prescribed pre-menstrual medication and was let off with a warning.
Kelli White
White dominated the track and field events at the IAFF World Championships in 2003. However, she was stripped of her medals in 2004 after admitting to using tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), erythropoietin (EPO), and modafinil. All of her accomplishments since 2000 had been annulled.
Maria Sharapova
Sharapova is one of the most dominant female tennis players in decades, but she ran into a snag in 2016. In March, Sharapova was suspended by the International Tennis Federation when they found traces of the banned substance meldonium in her system. While not an outright performance enhancer, meldonium helps optimize oxygen use in the body.
Marion Jones
Marion Jones was a highly celebrated Olympian who won gold medals and two bronze medals in various track and field events in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Sadly, Jones was stripped of those medals when she confessed to using steroids before and after the competition. She was sentenced to six months in jail for lying about her illegal substance use and for check fraud in 2008.
Martina Hingis
The Swiss tennis superstar is widely considered one of the best players ever, but she doesn't have a squeaky clean record. In 2007 she tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine during a urine test at Wimbledon. The International Tennis Federation suspended her for two years.
Carina Damm
The Brazilian MMA fighter was KO'd by drug tests. In 2008, Damm tested positive for Nandrolone, a potent anabolic steroid, and was suspended for one year. In 2013 she was suspended again after providing a urine sample after a fight against Jessica Eye that wasn't urine at all. The first tip off was that whatever liquid she gave to the doctor in the cup was cold!
Anna Alminova
The Russian runner had a bright career going when she became the 2009 European indoor champion in the 1500m competition. At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Alminova tested positive for the banned substance pseudoephedrine. While she only got a three-month ban for that failed test, she was sanctioned after her biological passport showed abnormalities. All of her wins and championships from 2009 onward were annulled.
Tammy Thomas
Thomas was a fast American sprint track cyclist who scored a silver medal at the 2001 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Thomas tested positive for THG, a powerful anabolic steroid. She was later banned for life from cycling and convicted of perjury for lying under oath during a federal investigation.