World 100 meters champion Torri Edwards will miss the Athens Olympics after her appeal against a two-year drugs ban was dismissed yesterday. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided to uphold the ban imposed by the US Anti-Doping Agency when Edwards tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide in Martinique last April.
“As a consequence, Ms. Torri Edwards remains suspended until July 17, 2006,” the CAS said in a statement. After the positive test Edwards, who had been due to run both the 100 and 200 in Athens, said she had been given glucose tablets by her physical therapist who did not know they contained a banned substance.
But the CAS statement said it would have been clear to any person reviewing the tablets that they contained more than one ingredient, even though they were labeled in French.
“According to the panel, there is an obligation and a duty for all athletes and more particularly to top-level athletes to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his/her body, tissues or fluids. “The panel found that Torri Edwards was negligent in failing to enquire whether the product contained a prohibited substance.”
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) spokesman Nick Davies welcomed the decision. “The IAAF is pleased that CAS has upheld the decision made by its doping panel which is consistent with the federation’s rules,” Davies said.
“CAS also found that the athletes and their support staff had been negligent. he credibility of our sport depends on athletes taking full responsibility for any substance they take.”
Edwards’s manager Emanuel Hudson said the sprinter was devastated. “She is basically in a state of shock,” said Hudson. “It is understandable that it would have been a tough decision under the current climate to allow her entry into the Olympic Games.
“However, we did not anticipate that she would be penalized or given a sanction that has the same penalty as someone who intentionally doped with a much stronger product.”
The CAS panel met for six hours on Monday to consider an appeal by the 27-year-old American against the ban. The athletics program begins at the Olympic Stadium tomorrow after the men’s and women’s shot put finals at Ancient Olympia two days earlier. Edwards was confirmed as world champion when her fellow American Kelli White accepted a two-year ban after admitting taking several performance-enhancing drugs.
However, Edwards in turn was banned for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last Wednesday. A US arbitration panel had concluded there could have been exceptional circumstances and referred the case to the IAAF. The IAAF disagreed and its recommendation of a two-year ban was accepted by USADA.
Meanwhile, Greece’s top two athletes, facing a state prosecutor’s investigation over missed drug tests and a motorbike crash, left hospital yesterday declaring they were innocent and should be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.
“After crucifixion comes resurrection,” Olympic 200 meters champion Costas Kenteris told reporters swarming round his car as he left the Athens hospital. “It’s a big injustice, I have never used banned substances — honestly,” said Kenteris. “All these people who crucify me on TV are the same people who wanted to be photographed with me after every success.”
The interminable saga of Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, 100 meters silver medalist in Sydney in 2000, that has plagued host nation Greece began when they failed to show up for a drugs test last Thursday, then went to hospital after the motorbike crash.
Greek government spokesman Thodoris Roussopoulos likened the Kenteris-Thanou case to an open wound. “A wound that is open creates more problems,” said Roussopoulos.
