Lachlan Giles recently conducted a round of PEDs testing on Australian athletes and he’s now revealed the results of those tests to the public. While the testing was not entirely randomized, it was conducted on just two week’s notice and the short timing meant that it effectively functioned in a similar fashion to random testing. It was conducted as part of the eligibility criteria for access to a fund that was created to help develop the level of Jiu-Jitsu in Australia even further. Giles was given oversight of the fund and allowed to determine how it was divided by an anonymous donor, in a move that will likely have a big impact on the growth of the sport there.
He also explains that any athletes were allowed to apply, provided they met the criteria of having achieved recent success at ADCC trials or at an IBJJF major at brown and black belt and had conducted their training in Australia. From there, it was just a matter of proving that they were a clean athlete. Lachlan Giles explained that he arranged for PEDs testing to take place in a WADA accredited lab and advised the athletes applying that if they were to fail the test, they would not be eligible and would have to reimburse the fund for the cost of that test.
That method to discourage people from attempting to cheat a test seems to have worked, as he explains that every athlete who took the test actually passed. He then listed off the 10 Australian BJJ competitors who would be receiving the funds, and they are among some of the best competitors in their respective weight classes around the world right now. Below are the 10 athletes that passed their PEDs testing and received some of that fund from Lachlan Giles, and their some of their best results in the sport:
Levi Jones-Leary – Jones-Leary is a popular competitor who has won several major IBJJF tournaments in the gi over the years. Jones-Leary has won gold medals in the IBJJF European Championship and the IBJJF Pan Championship at black belt.
Jeremy Skinner – Skinner is a top no gi competitor in the lighter weightclasses, winning ADCC trials and then having a breakthrough performance at ADCC 2022 when he made it to the quarter-final of the 66kg division.
Adele Fornarino – Fornarino is one of the best female grapplers in Australia, having won ADCC trials in 2022 and recently adding a silver medal from the IBJJF Brazilian National Championship 2023 to her collection.
Ariel Tabak – Tabak recently achieved a bronze medal from the Asia and Oceania ADCC trials 2022, only losing out to the aforementioned Skinner in the 66kg division.
Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths – Lloyd-Griffiths burst onto the scene in 2022 when she won a gold medal in the over 60kg division of ADCC trials.
Nicholas Maglicic – Maglicic has been one of the top prospects in the sport for a while, and most recently won the brown belt super-heavyweight division of the IBJJF world championship which resulted in him being promoted to black belt by Andre Galvao.
Ben Hodgkinson – Hodgkinson is an ADCC veteran who competed in the under 99kg division in 2019, having the unfortunate luck of drawing Gordon Ryan in the opening round.
Nadia Frankland – Frankland is one of the top female prospects in the country and also competed in the under 60kg division of the Asia and Oceania trials in 2022, only losing to Fornarino in the final and taking home a silver medal.
Siraj Soufi – Soufi is a fantastic competitor who managed to get to the final of ADCC trials in 2022, leaving with a silver medal after a close final match against ADCC veteran Kenta Iwamoto.
Anton Minenko – Minenko is a veteran of the AJP Tour circuit and has achieved a lot of success on it over the years, while also registering wins over top competitors like Haisam Rida.
Lachlan Giles revealed the results of the PEDs testing that he conducted on several Australian athletes in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
