HELSINKI, 13 August 2005 — Olympic decathlon champion Roman Sebrle said yesterday he had not committed any doping offense when he was given an injection during Wednesday’s world championships final.
Sebrle told reporters he had been given glucose by the Czech team doctor before the 1,500 meters, the final discipline in the two-day event. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said earlier it was investigating a Finnish report that Sebrle and team Tomas Dvorak, the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist, received an intravenous infusion.
“We didn’t do anything that wasn’t in the rules,” Sebrle told reporters.
“The doctor was responsible for the decision to give us the glucose during the very tough competition in bad weather. I feel sorry and embarrassed.” The IAAF statement said intravenous infusions were prohibited if they were intended “to alter the integrity or validity of an athlete’s sample”. “Each of the athletes was tested following the end of the 1,500 meters event. The results are not yet known but the IAAF can confirm that neither sample was diluted.”
The head of the IAAF’s medical and anti-doping commission, Juan Manuel Alonso, told Reuters neither athlete would have committed an offense if the infusions were not intended to alter their urine samples.
He said decathletes were sometimes injected during the two-day event to replace lost nutrients. “I wouldn’t say it’s common but it is done,” he said. “There is no offense if the sample is not diluted.”
Czech team leader Frantisek Fojt and team doctor Petr Sikora confirmed that world record holder Sebrle had been given glucose.
