Jessica Cosby (born May 31, 1982) is an American

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consist ...

er. She competed at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final. Her personal best throw is 74.2 metres, achieved on May 22, 2014, in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Shortly after the 2009 Championships, she failed a random, out-of-competition drug test. She explained that the banned

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics i ...

had entered her system as a result of taking a water pill to aid urination. Cosby said that depression, brought on by a series of personal and sporting setbacks (including losing her coach and her job), had left her unable to pass water and that her mother had given her the pill. Following an arbitration meeting with the

US Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

, the panel accepted her version of events and she received a reduced ban of four months. Cosby tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted a six-year suspension for her second anti-doping rule violation in March 2017. Cosby tested positive for the presence of an exogenous

anabolic-androgenic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects t ...

(AAS) and/or its metabolites, which was confirmed by carbon isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analysis, as a result of an out-of-competition urine sample she provided on September 12, 2016. Cosby was runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championship, but won the national title in the hammer the following year. She reached the final at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

and placed eleventh overall. She set a new personal record at the 2012

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

, throwing the implement 74.19 m for fourth place. She competed at the 2012 Olympic Games but again did not qualify for the final. Jessica Cosby Toruga threw 71.72 meters to place 2nd at the 2014 US Outdoor championship on June 28.

International competitions

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people Track and field athletes from Los Angeles American female hammer throwers African-American female track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women {{US-hammerthrow-athletics-bio-stub