Jessica Cosby

{{short description|American hammer thrower}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Jessica Cosby

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|5|31}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| height = {{height|m=1.73}}

| weight = {{convert|79|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

| country = {{USA}}

| sport = Athletics

| event = Hammer throw

| coach =

| highestranking =

| pb =

| medaltemplates =

| updated = August 14, 2012

}}

Jessica Cosby (born May 31, 1982) is an American hammer thrower. She competed at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final. Her personal best throw is 74.2 metres, achieved on May 22, 2014, in Tucson, Arizona.{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/united-states/jessica-cosby-toruga-180069|title=Jessica Cosby Toruga|work=iaaf.org}}

Competing for the UCLA Bruins track and field team, Cosby won the shot put at the 2002 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.{{cite web |url=https://www.ustfccca.org/records-lists/meet-history-by-event?gender=2&series=3369&event=25 |title=Shot put at the NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships |website=USTFCCCA |access-date=28 December 2024}}

Shortly after the 2009 Championships, she failed a random, out-of-competition drug test. She explained that the banned diuretic had entered her system as a result of taking a water pill to aid urination. Cosby said that depression, brought on by a series of personal and sporting setbacks (including losing her coach and her job), had left her unable to pass water and that her mother had given her the pill. Following an arbitration meeting with the US Anti-Doping Agency, the panel accepted her version of events and she received a reduced ban of four months.[https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=5178725 Cosby beats USADA in arbitration]. ESPN (May 10, 2010). Retrieved on August 8, 2010.

Cosby tested positive for a prohibited substance and accepted a six-year suspension for her second anti-doping rule violation in March 2017. She tested positive for the presence of an exogenous anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and/or its metabolites, which was confirmed by carbon isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analysis, as a result of an out-of-competition urine sample she provided on September 12, 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.usada.org/jessica-cosby-toruga-accepts-doping-sanction/ |title=Jessica Cosby-Toruga Accepts Doping Sanction | USADA |website=www.usada.org |date= March 6, 2017|access-date=April 19, 2017}}

Cosby was runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championship, but won the national title in the hammer the following year. She reached the final at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and placed eleventh overall. She set a new personal record at the 2012 Prefontaine Classic, throwing the implement 74.19 m for fourth place.Gains, Paul (June 2, 2012). [http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/dlm/news/newsid=65154.html Dibaba 30:24.39 and Kiprop 27:01.98 on stunning but wet first night in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League]. IAAF. Retrieved on June 3, 2012. She competed at the 2012 Olympic Games but again did not qualify for the final.{{cite web|url=http://www.olympic.org/olympic-results/london-2012/athletics/hammer-throw-w|title=hammer throw women results - Athletics - London 2012 Olympics}} She threw 71.72 meters to place 2nd at the 2014 US Outdoor championship on June 28.{{cite web|url=http://branchsportstech.com/2014_Meets/outdoor/06-25-usatf/Result-Horz.php?EN=36&RN=1&ST=Official&D=4|title=USATF Championships}}