Former Team Einarson lead Briane Harris weighs in on lost curling season

When Briane Harris received an unexpected email from World Curling in February 2024, she thought it looked quite unusual and didn't open it right away.

Thinking it was probably spam, she instead joined her teammates, the four-time national champions skipped by Kerri Einarson, at a Calgary Flames game on the eve of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Another email from the federation arrived the next morning. This one looked a little different.

"It just looked more legit the second time and I knew they would email me again if it was serious," Harris said. "So I was like, 'OK I'll open it.' And then at that time, like everything changed and I was like, 'Holy crap."'

Harris was informed an out-of-competition urine sample tested positive for trace amounts of Ligandrol. It's banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for its anabolic, muscle-building effects.

"I had not seen that coming in a million years because obviously I wasn't doping," she said.

Harris was placed under provisional suspension, setting in motion a nearly year-long journey that saw the Petersfield, Man., native appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which eventually found she bore "no fault or negligence" for the violation.

Her ban was lifted last January. Shortly thereafter, her seven-year run with the Einarson team came to an end and she would join Team Kate Cameron at third.

"I just feel like a weight has been lifted off me and I am so excited for the future," Harris said in an interview.

Harris would claim she was unknowingly exposed to Ligandrol through intimate contact with her husband. But shortly after getting news of the positive test, she was stumped as to how it got in her system.

"When I got back to the hotel room, my husband said that the