American cyclist Tyler Hamilton has lost his appeal of a two-year ban for blood doping.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced on Saturday that it had rejected his appeal. Hamilton pleaded his case before the body several weeks ago in Denver. The 34-year-old had tested positive for having transfused blood in his system after winning a time trial in the 2004 Vuelta a Espana.
The US Anti-Doping Agency imposed a two-year ban last April, but Hamilton asserted that the test was unreliable and appealed to the CAS.
Because Hamilton voluntarily agreed to a suspension and withdrew from the Vuelta following the positive test, he can return to professional cycling Sept. 22, 2006, the CAS ruled.
Reads the CAS press release:
“In a very detailed award, the Panel has found that the HBT test as applied to the samples delivered by Hamilton at the Vuelta was reliable, that on 11 September 2004 his blood did contain two different red blood cell populations and that such presence was caused by blood doping by homologous blood transfusion, a prohibited method under the UCI rules.”
A full copy of the CAS report regarding Hamilton is available at its website.
Hamilton continues to maintain his innocense. At his website, Hamilton says:
“Based on my devastating personal experience over the last year and a half, I am committed to fighting for reform within the anti-doping movement. I do support the anti-doping mission and USADA, however the current system has failed an innocent athlete and needs to change.”
Hamilton also tested positive for blood doping at the 2004 Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the individual time trial. That results of that test were voided, however, when a second sample, used to confirm the first, was frozen and the red blood cells destroyed. The Russian cycling federation has asked CAS to reinstate those results and strip Hamilton of the gold medal, giving it instead to native son Viatcheslav Ekimov. CAS said it will make that ruling soon.
Recent Comments