Professional cyclist Olivia Ray is facing a ban from the US Anti-Doping Agency who have been investigating her since early 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell
Professional cyclist Olivia Ray is facing a ban from the US Anti-Doping Agency who have been investigating her since early 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell
New Zealand cycling champion Olivia Ray says her family were proud of her decision to publicly admit she took banned substances, as she yesterday dealt with some international scrutiny from the revelation.
Ray has been under investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) since February, and revealed to the Heraldshe took the banned anabolic steroid Anavar and weight loss agent Clenbuterol late last year.
In Saturday's exclusive report, Ray details how she came clean to USADA over four hours of interviews, and allowed her phone to be searched by the Serious Fraud Office.
"My mum said 'oh, that was very brave' and I've had a couple of messages [from others]," Ray told the Herald.
"My boyfriend just said 'I'm proud of you. I know it wasn't easy. You were sharing something that you were trying to hide for so long. It's not fun'."
The 24-year-old is the current New Zealand road racing national champion after beating a field of experienced pro riders who battled the gusty remnants of Cyclone Dovi through the Cambridge streets on February 13.
Drug Free Sport NZ are yet to reveal if Ray's dalliance with banned substances a few months earlier will compromise her February national championship.
The former professional rider says she only took performance enhancing drugs in November last year while she was entangled in an allegedly abusive relationship with US amateur cyclist Jackson Huntley Nash.
The pair were both living in Atlanta in the US - where Ray resided since 2017 after receiving a sports scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design.
Several performance-enhancing drugs were allegedly photographed at Nash's home, presented in a US court in January this year. Also present in those photos were anabolic steroid testosterone and a drug used to mask the negative side effects of steroids - Anastrozole.
Olivia Ray wins the elite women race during the Road Race at the Elite Road Cycling National Championships at Tom Voyle Park in Cambridge on Sunday February 13, 2022. Photo / Aaron Gillions
As part of that court case, another former partner of Nash - an amateur competitive cyclist on the US Crits tour - accused him of years of abusive behaviour, to ex-girlfriends, including being a "danger" to Ray.
Ray also filed a police report against Nash and contacted a domestic violence hotline in December.
On May 6, Nash also received a three-year suspension from USA Cycling events following reports filed against him to US athlete advocacy body SafeSport.
In its decision, USA Cycling said it had found Nash had "harassed and threatened" one of the claimants, including "physically assaulting her, confining her to her home, and withholding medication". He also "harassed and threatened" and "physically restrained" another claimant.
Ray and Nash are no longer together, and Ray has returned to live permanently back in New Zealand as she awaits the USADA decision. She is currently working in a retail clothing store and has started a new relationship in Auckland.
In October, 2021, Ray won the most lucrative women's road race in the US - the Lion's Den Crit in Sacramento - pocketing $15,000. Photo / Supplied
Ray said she was somewhat bemused at the level of attention the story had garnered online, and was contacted by other international cycling media almost immediately after the story broke yesterday morning.
"Oh my god. Why so much interest? But it's cool. I mean that was the whole plan anyway to have people see it I suppose," Ray said.
"But I think the fact it was across so many pages it has gained more traction rather than if it was written on just an online article. But so far it's been pretty positive. I mean I was honest and accepting of it all, so I can't be disappointed if people aren't happy with me. But at the same time, it was a personal thing to do."
Ray admitted she was still a little anxious about the reputational consequences of her public admission to taking banned drugs. She was dropped by her US pro team Human Powered Health in February after it emerged she was being investigated by USADA, and is still unsure if she will attempt to revive her career.
"I think it's more that image thing, that my face is there. It's not something I want to hide but also it's definitely confronting. People are pretty quick to jump on it. But so far so good."
The Auckland native says if she receives the maximum four-year ban for doping it will likely end her career. But she is hopeful she may get a significant reduction in her ban from competition - down to potentially only one year - due to her cooperation with USADA.
"If it's a year, perfect. I don't really know. Like, it's all well and good to say 'yep I'd like to get back into cycling and compete' and all of that but I think everyone in high performance [cycling] knows it's not just about how you perform, it's definitely a reputational and a personal thing."
