Brazilian pro triathlete Ariane Monticeli tested positive for EPO a day before the 70.3 Buenos Aires on March 12, 2017. Monticeli admitted to MundoTri.br that she used EPO for that race, but insists that it was a one time affair. Monticeli shared a long letter with MundoTri and also offered all her other doping test results.

Monticeli won the IRONMAN Latin American Championships in Brazil in 2015 and had some other wins that year, but she then had a disappointing 2016 season.

"In 2016 I faced numerous problems. Mechanical problems at the IRONMAN Florianopolis, a broken foot at the start of IRONMAN Zurich, the death of my mother, and I was hit 14 days before the World Championship in Kona in Hawaii. It was a bad year as a whole, and the results were a reflection of this," said Monticeli in that letter to MundoTri.

In 2017 Monticeli wanted to be back on top and something had to give.

"By 2017 most of the people did not think I would get results. Succumbing to this pressure and not admitting to having a bad new year, I decided to use EPO for my first Half IRONMAN competition of the year," added Monticeli. "How did this happen? Inside my head, I repeated 'I need to win', but I knew I was constantly tested and I have a biological passport, so now what to do? I went to the Internet, I researched the purchase of EPO. I researched how to apply it, how long it stays in the body and so on"

Monticeli did not win in Buenos Aires, she ended up in 3rd place in a time of 4:25:13. American Haley Chura had captured the title in 4:17:42 and Brit Kimberley Morrison earned the runner-up spot on that day.

Monticeli said she was disappointed by the result and decided to walk away from the "experiment."

"It did not change my performance at all. I did not win the IRONMAN 70.3 Buenos Aires, I did nothing different from what I always did in tests, I was frustrated, because I 'had' to win. Last year I had a better time than this year's event. I thought ok, high risk for zero benefit.," said Monticeli.

Monticeli stated that she feels bad about what she had done and for all the people who had been looking up to her. She also revealed that she had contemplated suicide.

For the complete letter of Ariane Monticeli check MundoTri.br, the South American triathlon site that received the letter from Monticeli.