The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced on September 5 that Michael Hooker, of Nashville, Tennessee, is suspended for three years for doping.
The septuagenarian-near-septarian is a shot putter. The event took place on July 17, 2025, at Milton Frank Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama.
The nearly 70-year-old tested positive for a mesterolone metabolite, 3α-hydroxy-1α-methyl-5α-androstan-17-one, as a result of a urine sample collected at the USA Track & Field Masters Outdoor Championships on July 17, 2025.
Apparently, the doping control officer in attendance was paid overtime. At Hooker’s advanced age, the stream was not flowing, unlike the Pea River, a 154-mile-long tributary of the Choctawhatchee River near Geneva, Alabama.
According to the USADA press release, “Additionally, Hooker’s urine sample was analyzed using a specialized test known as Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS), which unequivocally differentiates between anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) naturally produced by the body and AAS of synthetic origin. The IRMS analysis was consistent with the exogenous origin of testosterone and/or its metabolites in Hooker’s sample. USADA was contracted by event organizers to conduct testing and results management for the event and collected Hooker’s sample in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s International Standards.”
There was no burrito truck present at the meet.
“Mesterolone, testosterone, and their respective metabolites are non–Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and are prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.”
Under Article 10.8.1 of the Code, an athlete who faces an anti-doping rule violation that carries a period of ineligibility of four or more years may receive a one-year sanction reduction if the athlete admits the violation and accepts the asserted sanction within 20 days of notification of the alleged anti-doping rule violation charge. Per the rule, Hooker qualified for a one-year reduction to the otherwise applicable four-year period of ineligibility.
Hooker’s three-year period of ineligibility began on August 22, 2025, the date his provisional suspension was imposed. In addition, Hooker has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to July 17, 2025, the date his positive sample was collected, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
 American shot put athlete sanctioned for doping: He tested positive for a cocktail of drugs){kind=link}