COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, 1 May 2004 — Hammer throwers Melissa Price and John McEwen have been suspended for two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Thursday after testing positive for the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

The suspensions are the first of US athletes for THG since the designer steroid was discovered last year, the USADA said in a statement. Price, 24, tested positive at the US national championships on June 19, 2003, and in an out-of-competition test on July 29, and was suspended from all competition from April 15, 2004, the date of her arbitration hearing.

McEwen, 30, tested positive for THG and the stimulant modafinil at the same championships and was suspended from April 19 this year. The suspensions followed hearings before the same three-member panel of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The panel said both athletes had used the drug “for no other purpose than to enhance an athlete’s performance in violation of the spirit and absolute proscriptions of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) doping rules.”

All of their results, including Price’s first-place at the US nationals and 12th at the World Championships in Paris, and McEwen’s second-place at the nationals, since the positive tests had been annulled.

“This decision confirms the tremendous work of all those who believe in drug-free sport. Today is a great day for those athletes who want to compete on a level playing field,” said USADA’s chief executive Terry Madden.

US shot put champion Kevin Toth and middle-distance runner Regina Jacobs, who also tested positive for THG at the US championships, are still awaiting the results of their appeals to the AAA.

Earlier on Thursday the IAAF stripped the British men’s 4x100 meters relay team of their World Championships silver medal, because of a positive test for THG by team member Dwain Chambers.

BALCO Steroid Scandal Battle to Return to Court

In San Francisco, the men at the heart of synthetic steroid scandal tarring Marion Jones and other world renowned athletes was resume battle in a San Francisco federal courtroom yesterday.

Attorneys representing Northern California residents Victor Conte, James Valente, Greg Anderson, and Remi Korchemny have asked that vials, chemicals and other items seized from Anderson’s home and car on Sept. 3, 2003 be retested before the case proceeds to trial. Federal prosecutors are opposed to the blanket request by Anderson’s lawyer, Tony Serra, and are bent on convincing District Court Judge Susan Illston to make the defense team specify which items are to be reanalyzed and justify the effort.

US Details Drugs Seized From Barry Bonds Trainer

Officials found human growth hormone, a variety of steroids and dozens of syringes when they searched the home of baseball slugger Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, according to documents made available on Thursday.

The IRS criminal investigation division prepared the list of drug-related items in response to recent legal motions by trainer Greg Anderson’s attorneys.