Christian Bacico Handed Provisional Suspension After Positive Test For Clostebol
World short-course relay medallist Christian Bacico has been handed a provisional suspension after testing positive for a clostebol metabolite.
Bacico – the second-fastest Italian in history in the 200 back – was suspended by the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the outcome of the test which was carried out by National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) Italia.
According to the International Testing Agency, clostebol metabolite is prohibited under the 2024 WADA Prohibited list as an anabolic androgenic steroid and helps build muscle mass and aid athletic performance.
A press release regarding Bacico read: “The National Anti-Doping Court, in acceptance of the request proposed by the National Anti-Doping Prosecutor’s Office, has suspended the athlete Christian Bacico (FIN) as a precautionary measure for the violation of articles 2.1, 2.2 (substance found: CLOSTEBOL METABOLITE). The controls were ordered by NADO Italia”.
Clostebol is the same substance for which four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner twice tested positive in March 2024 although the Italian said the substance entered his system inadvertently through contamination, claiming his physio had used an over-the-counter healing spray containing clostebol on a cut on his own hand, and the substance was then transferred to Sinner during a massage.
Sinner and WADA reached a case resolution agreement in February 2025. Sinner accepted a three-month period of ineligibility, even though he maintained his innocence. WADA accepted that Sinner did not intend to cheat and that his exposure to clostebol was unintentional.
The 20-year-old most recently competed at the Italian S/C Championships in Riccione. There he placed third in the 100 and 200 back as well as fourth in the 50.
He also competed at the European Short Course Championships which ran from 2-7 December in Lublin, Poland. There he was 12th in the 100 back behind teammates Lorenzo Mora and Thomas Ceccon but he didn’t make it out of prelims because of the two-per-nation rule. He then finished 12th in the 200 (1:52.81).
It followed his appearance at the World Championships in Singapore where he led off the mixed medley relay in 52.78 as the quartet finished sixth. Bacico – who hails from Lombardy – was 10th in the 100 back and set a national youth record of 1:56.02 in the 200, a time only Ceccon has bettered among Italian men with his 1:55.71 national record from April this year.
Bacico earned his first medal on the senior stage at the 2024 short-course worlds in Budapest where he led off the Italy men’s medley relay in prelims. He was replaced in the final by Mora as the quartet won bronze.
He enjoyed a medal-laden 2023 where he followed up gold and silver at the European juniors with four medals including 100/200 back bronze.