Two-Time Montenegrin Paralympian Ilija Tadic Receives 2-Year Doping Ban

Montenegrin para swimmer Ilija Tadic, who lives and trains in South Bend, Indiana, has accepted a two-year sanction from USADA for an anti-doping rules violation.

Tadic, 25, tested positive for amphetamines during an in-competition test at the US Paralympics Swimming National Championships on December 16, 2023. He declared the use of the banned substance during testing.

Amphetamine is a Non-Specified Substance in the class of stimulants and is prohibited in-competition under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policies, and the World Aquatics Doping Control Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Amphetamines speed up the pace of messages between the brain and the body and are common in many over-the-counter drugs. While USADA did not specify what medicine Tadic was taking, they are found in many common medicines from over-the-counter nasal decongestants to ADHD medicine.

While Tadic was taking the medicine at the direction of a doctor, he did not apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. He did not get one prior to the test and did not meet the standard for a retroactive TUE, which requires an athlete to meet one of these five criteria:

• The athlete required emergency or urgent treatment of a medical condition.
• There was insufficient time, opportunity or other exceptional circumstances that prevented the athlete from submitting the TUE application, or having it evaluated, before getting tested.
• As per NADO anti-doping rules the athlete was not permitted or required to apply in advance for a TUE.
• The athlete was a lower-level athlete who was not under the jurisdiction of an International Federation or National Anti-Doping Organization when they were tested.
• The athlete tested positive after using a substance out-of-competition that was only prohibited in-competition (for example glucocorticoids).

The two-year period of eligibility began on February 22, 2024, and all results obtained on and after December 15, 2023 are forfeited.

Tadic recently finished his senior season of college swimming at Notre Dame and has a 5th year of COVID-19 pandemic eligibility. At the US National Championships, Tadic finished 2nd in the men’s 50 free in the S9 classification in 26.62.

Tadic represented Montenegro at the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games, though he didn’t advance out of the heats of either meet. He did make a final in the 100 free at the 2017 Para-Swimming World Championships, placing 8th.

He is a Montenegrin National Record holder.