Olivia Ray, who was struck from the Human Power Health roster earlier this year, said in an interview with a New Zealand newspaper that she had taken performance enhancing substances while racing professionally in the US last year.

The 24-year-old told the NZ Herald that she took clenbuterol and the anabolic steroid Anavar not to win, but to get her boyfriend's approval.

It was late May 2021 when Ray said she first took a pill of clenbuterol, a banned drug that can increase lean body mass and reduce body fat, and tried to take it again six months later, the paper reported.

"I was curious because it's a taboo subject," Ray told the Weekend Herald. 'It's not something that gets talked about, and when it is, it's very negative. It kind of changed my perspective on why people do it. I didn't necessarily choose to take these things, but I wasn't necessarily forced to.

"I'm not in denial. I'm open about the fact that I was doing drugs. Now I am just dealing with the consequences."

According to the NZ Herald, the athlete had two telephone interviews with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) this year and said he admitted taking Anavar and clenbuterol late last year.

"I took them only in November, from about November through December."

Ray added:" In my mind, I did it when I was not racing, I did not hurt anyone, I was not tested, I never tested positive, I would remove it from my system before I would be tested again".

Cyclingnews reached out to Olivia Ray and Human Powered Health for comment, but had not received a response at the time of writing. Cyclingnews also contacted USADA, but USADA responded that it does not comment on whether there are any ongoing investigations or cases.

Concerns about the use of performance enhancing substances first came to light as part of another U.S. court case reported in February, triggering a USADA investigation.

Ray stepped into road cycling professionally from Rally Cycling in 2021, shifting to the Women's World Tour in 2022 and changing her team name to Human Powered Health.

Her only UCI-sanctioned race was the New Zealand Road Championships in January, where she finished first in a windstorm that brought stormy weather from the wreckage of Cyclone Dovi and a last-minute course change that reduced the amount of climbing.

However, as the road season began, Rey did not return to race overseas in the silver fern-clad jersey of the New Zealand champions, and was dropped from the roster in March. At that time, there was no explanation from the team for her de-registration. Cycling New Zealand CEO Monica Robards said in response to questions emailed by Cycling News, "It's up to USADA and the UCI to decide."

Robards added that Cycling New Zealand was "informed by DFSNZ [Drug Free Sport New Zealand] that USADA is conducting an investigation. Cycling New Zealand contacted Olivia and her family and offered their support."