THERE have been some beauties over the years, but Argentine tennis star Mariano Puerta has come up with arguably the most incredible excuse for doping in the history of sport.
Puerta claims he accidentally ingested a banned stimulant used by his wife to dull menstrual pain.
The 27-year-old is clinging to hopes of rebuilding a shattered career after a record eight-year ban for testing positive to etilfrine after losing the French Open final on June 5.
It's not that the independent Anti-Doping Tribunal, used by the International Tennis Federation, is not prepared to accept his menstrual pain pill excuse.
The problem for 27-year-old Puerta is that it's not his first doping offence ... nor his first clanger in trying to justify the positive test result.
And sports authorities are fed up reiterating that athletes are responsible for anything they put in their mouths, inadvertently or otherwise.
Puerta has previously served a nine-month ban for using the anabolic agent clenbuterol in 2003. That time he claimed he took the drug to combat asthma.
Yesterday Puerta described the penalty as "unjust" and vowed to fight it.
As sports authorities do their best to keep athletes honest and to stamp out doping, the excuses for drug use in sport just keep getting more bizarre.
Former Cuban high jump legend Javier Sotomayor is surely in the grand final with Puerta for worst excuse for doping. When he tested positive for cocaine in 1999 he argued he was the victim of a CIA conspiracy that "may have put some substance in my lunch or dinner".
Then there was US Olympic sprinter Dennis Mitchell, who tested positive for a high testosterone count in 1999. He said it was because he'd had sex four times the night before and chugged down five beers.
And our own cricket legend Shane Warne would surely be a semi-finalist with his explanation that he didn't know he had taken a banned diuretic when he took a pill that his mum gave him that was supposed to make him look thinner on TV.
Baseliner Puerta is the latest in a long line of Argentine tennis players to fall foul of anti-doping laws.
The left-hander, who will be stripped of the $1.16million prizemoney he has won from the start of the French Open until the end of the season, has three weeks in which to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
If unsuccessful, his career is over.
Puerta avoided a life ban because of the evidence he and his wife Sol tendered during a hearing in Miami, where it emerged the South American had known about the case since late July - contradicting his earlier claims he knew nothing of the accusations.
Sol Puerta gave evidence that she used Effortil, which contained banned etilfrine, to control period pain.
Puerta's defence claimed he inadvertently drank his wife's cup of water - which contained Effortil - as he waited to be called to the Roland Garros centre court to play Rafael Nadal in the French final.
The couple said they were trying to relax in the Roland Garros player cafeteria.
Puerta had gone to the bathroom and, on his return, said he accidentally consumed his wife's drink.
The International Tennis Federation's anti-doping panel accepted inadvertent use.
The tribunal found the levels of etilfrine in his urine was low and was not performance-enhancing.
Puerta now rejoins compatriots Guillermo Canas, currently serving a two-year ban, and Guillermo Coria (seven months) and Juan-Ignacio Chela (three months) as drug cheats.
He creates history as the first tennis player to draw more than a two-year ban.
"The tribunal determined that Mr Puerta's analytical positive result was caused by an inadvertent administration of etilfrine," the ITF said.
Puerta said he would make a decision on an appeal early next year, effectively ruling out an Australian Open reprieve.