Shayna Jack was poised to anchor Australia’s sprint freestyle relays at the 2019 World Championships, having already won two silvers and two bronzes at the 2017 Worlds. But days before the meet, a positive test for a banned substance forced her withdrawal and a career-threatening suspension. Seven years on, Jack opens up about the emotional fallout of that moment and the fight to rebuild her career and reputation.

On ‘I’m A Celeb,’ Jack shared how even her fiancé, Kookaburras hockey player Joel Rintala, feared leaving her home alone.

“Some nights I was in a really bad place,” she said, tears welling. “Those nights were the most fearful… I didn’t know if he was going to walk home into something I wasn’t able to cope with… In the end, I felt like I’d done something I’d regret forever.” But Jack credited her support system for helping her face these challenges instead of letting them consume her.

“For me, it’s just using the people around me to continue to open up about it and face those difficulties,” she said. “Stop giving it so much power… The more I take it off my chest and take it off my heart, the more I can not try to move forward with my life and not feel. This huge aspect of my life calling me back.”

Her suspension began after an out-of-competition test on June 26, 2019. Initially, Swimming Australia and ASADA handed her a four-year ban, which would have ruled her out of events including the Tokyo Olympics.

After appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the ban was reduced to two years, with CAS finding she had not intentionally ingested Ligandrol. Even when ASADA and WADA tried to challenge this, the two-year suspension stood.

But the battle was costly both emotionally and financially! Jack spent $180,000 defending herself.

“I’ve obviously gone through personal experiences that have tested my ability to handle public scrutiny and potentially go through mental health challenges,” she told NewsWire. But even under that pressure, she  still found a way to stay grounded

The comeback story that made Shayna Jack shine again

Despite the emotional strain and public scrutiny, Shayna Jack never let it control her body or her decisions. For any athlete, a doping ban can be a terrifying period, one that could push someone toward drugs or alcohol, as many do under stress. But she didn’t. The reason, she says, was the support of those around her.

“It was my fiance, my coach, my family who were all around me to ensure that I wasn’t doing the wrong thing based on my mentality and making those decisions that could make things worse for me,” Jack explained. “My relationship with alcohol didn’t change during the ban because I had a strong support network. I wasn’t doing the wrong thing based on my mentality and making decisions that could make things worse for me.”

Once her suspension ended in July 2021, Jack made an inspiring return to swimming. Just months after her comeback, she won her first individual race at the Queensland Swimming Championships. And then at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Jack helped Australia win gold in the women’s 4×100 m freestyle relay and silver in the mixed 4×100 m medley relay.

A few months later at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she contributed to gold in the 4×100 m freestyle relay while also claiming silver in the 100 m freestyle and bronze in the 50 m freestyle. Interestingly, her comeback continued to shine on the world stage as well. At the 2023 World Championships, she won silver in the 50 m freestyle. And at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won two Olympic gold medals in the women’s 4×100 m and 4×200 m freestyle relays.

After years of doubt and determination, Shayna Jack’s comeback has rewritten her story. Now with Olympic gold and a WAIS scholarship fueling her drive, she’s set to race at the Gold Coast Nationals next month. Will this be her moment to shine again?