Mette Jacobsen (born 24 March 1973 in

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the L ...

) is a former freestyle and

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

swimmer from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

who competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, beginning in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. She won a total of 32 individual medals in international championships in a period from 1989 to 2005.

Doping allegation and suspension

Prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics, Jacobsen was accused by

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

of using Salbutamol as a doping substance. In a 2006 interview with DR she told ''

Jyllands-Posten ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circula ...

'' that it had been legal for her to use this substance since 1993, because of her

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

. The substance itself produced

prednisone Prednisone is a glucocorticoid medication mostly used to suppress the immune system and decrease inflammation in conditions such as asthma, COPD, and rheumatologic diseases. It is also used to treat high blood calcium due to cancer and ad ...

, which according to FINA then increased her swimming capacity. She was suspended for half a year as a warning, which was issued by LEN, but never resumed swimming, because she could not compete without it.

References

External links

Profile on FINA-website
1973 births Living people People from Nakskov Danish female swimmers Olympic swimmers of Denmark Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Danish female butterfly swimmers Danish female freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming {{Denmark-swimming-bio-stub