GREENSBORO, North Carolina, 9 December 2003 — A lifetime banishment for first-time steroid doping offenders was approved by USA Track and Field’s membership here on Sunday at the conclusion of their convention.
The “Zero Tolerance” policy was formed in the wake of the October discovery of the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which has turned up in doping tests of four American athletes and Britain’s European 100 meters champion Dwain Chambers.
A US athletes committee approved the ban unanimously but there was a lone nay vote among the full delegation when the matter was brought to a final vote.
The “Zero Tolerance” measure takes effect Jan. 1 and is not retroactive, so the positive THG tests by Regina Jacobs, Kevin Toth, John McEwan and an unidentified fourth US athlete would not face lifetime bans.
US Olympic Committee (USOC) officials demanded swift and firm action by USA Track and Field in response to the THG scandal, the subject of a federal grand jury probe involving baseball and American football players and swimmers.
Exact wording of the regulation takes careful note of the possible legal challenge the lifetime ban could face under the US Amateur Sports Act, which forbids more restrictive US federation bans than any global governing body.
The regulation reads that a steroid suspension “shall be for life provided that such lifetime suspension does not violate any provision of the Sports Act, including the provision that requires that USATF may ‘not have eligibility criteria related to amateur status or participation in the Olympic Games ... that are more restrictive than those of the appropriate international sports federation.”
USA Track and Field has asked the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to adopt the lifetime steroid ban, toughening their penalty from the current two-year minimum ban for a first offense.
