LONDON, 14 December 2005 — Former world 100 meters record holder Tim Montgomery was banned for two years yesterday for doping offenses related to the BALCO laboratory in California.
The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said its three-man panel unanimously accepted evidence presented by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that Montgomery had taken banned substances provided by BALCO.
Montgomery, 30, the estranged partner of triple Olympic champion Marion Jones, is the highest-profile track and field athlete to be banned as a result of the BALCO scandal.
Chryste Gaines, a member of the US women’s 4x100 meters gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, was also banned for two years. Both suspensions start from June 6 this year, the opening day of the CAS hearings.
The bans are the result of a new USADA rule, which allow doping suspensions even if there is no positive test.
Three other US sprinters — double world sprint champion Kelli White, Alvin Harrison and Michelle Collins — have already been suspended for so-called non-analytical positives.
CAS also ruled that all Montgomery’s results from March 31, 2001, the date from which he admitted taking drugs, should be annulled and his earnings confiscated. Montgomery won $100,000 alone for finishing as the overall grand prix champion after he set his then world record of 9.78 seconds at the 2002 Paris grand prix final.
In its introduction to the report, CAS said USADA had sought a four-year ban for Montgomery for taking part in a worldwide doping conspiracy initiated by BALCO. The standard ban for serious doping offenses by first time offenders is two years.
“According to USADA, BALCO was involved in a conspiracy, the purpose of which was the distribution and use of doping substances and techniques that were either undetectable or difficult to detect in routine drug testing.
“BALCO is alleged to have distributed several types of doping agents to professional athletes in track and field, baseball and football.
“Among these were tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), otherwise known as ‘the clear’ that could not be identified by routine anti-doping testing until 2003.”
