The regulation of modafinil as a doping agent has been controversial in the sporting world, with high-profile cases attracting press coverage since several prominent American athletes tested positive for the substance. Some athletes who used modafinil protested that the drug was not on the prohibited list at the time of their offenses. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) maintains that modafinil was related to already-banned substances. The Agency added modafinil to its list of prohibited substances on August 3, 2004, ten days before the start of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Several athletes (such as sprinter Kelli White in 2003, cyclist David Clinger and basketball player Diana Taurasi in 2010, and rower Timothy Grant in 2015) were accused of using modafinil as a performance-enhancing doping agent. Taurasi and another player—Monique Coker, tested at the same lab—were later cleared. Kelli White, who tested positive after her 100m victory at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, was stripped of her gold medals. She claimed that she used modafinil to treat narcolepsy, but the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that modafinil was a performance-enhancing drug.
The BALCO scandal brought to light an unsubstantiated (but widely published) account of Major League Baseballs all-time leading home-run hitter Barry Bonds supplemental chemical regimen that included modafinil in addition to anabolic steroids and human growth hormone.