American sprinter Calvin Harrison has been suspended for two years for a second doping violation and will be ineligible for the Athens Olympics, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Monday.
The ruling could also cost the US its 2003 world 4x400m relay gold medal since Harrison, according to the decision, was ineligible to compete at the time.
In a similar case last month, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) recommended that the International Olympic Committe strip the US 4x400m relay team of its Sydney Olympics gold medal because another sprinter, Jerome Young, was ineligible following a 1999 positive doping test.
Harrison ran on US 4x400m relay teams at both the 2000 Olympic Games and 2003 world championships.
He tested positive for the banned stimulant modafinil at the 2003 US national championships, the USADA said in a statement.
Harrison's first doping offence occurred at the 1993 US junior national championships, which also involved a prohibited stimulant.
He had been named to the preliminary 4x400m relay pool for Athens after finishing fifth in the individual event at last month's Olympic trials.
Harrison's lawyer, Edward Williams, said he did not know whether his client would appeal the decision, made by a three-member panel of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"He's disappointed, particularly about the fact that the arbitrators didn't essentially nullify the repercussions of the first offence, which dealt with pseudoephedrine, which is no longer on the [banned] list... It was then but is not now," Williams said in a telephone interview.
Williams also said Harrison's due process was denied in the 1993 hearing process.
The lawyer also expressed disappointment that the hearing panel did not accept the testimony of his expert witness, a pharmacologist once employed by the manufacturer of modafinil, that the drug was not a stimulant.
USADA officials said modafinil was prohibited at the time of the test because it is related to the classes of substances banned under IAAF rules.
Harrison admitted in an Oct. 2003 telephone interview that he "tested positive for modafinil at the nationals."
He said a coach in California had given him this pill.
"He [the coach] emphasized that it was not on the banned substance list and assured me that it was not an illegal substance," Harrison said
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their