CAS rules Colombian cyclist Calle should get Olympic bronze medal back

[richard]

Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle will get back the Olympic bronze medal that was stripped from her in a doping case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Thursday.

Sport's highest court upheld her appeal against her disqualification from the 2004 Athens Games by the International Olympic Committee, saying the headache medicine she took did not contain banned substances.

"I'm nervous and very happy that I will finally receive the medal that I fought so hard to win in the Olympics," the 36-year-old Calle said in her hometown of Medellin.

Calle had lost her medal in the women's points race after the IOC executive board ruled she tested positive for a banned stimulant.

"The decision of the IOC executive board . . . is set aside and the bronze medal of the women's points race remains awarded to" Calle, CAS said in a statement.

The IOC disqualified Calle after she tested positive for heptaminol, a prohibited stimulant, which was found in a urine sample taken after the race.

Calle denied ever taking the stimulant. Instead, she claimed to have taken an anti-migraine pill called Neo-Saldina a few hours before the race because she had a headache. She blamed that drug, which was prescribed by a national team doctor, for the heptaminol reading.

CAS said Neo-Saldina contains isometheptene, a substance which transforms into heptaminol during laboratory analyses. The court said isometheptene was not on the list of banned substances drawn up by the World Anti-Doping Agency for Athens.

CAS also ruled that isometheptene did not fit WADA's category of substances that are prohibited because they are "similar" to those named on the banned list.

"We respect the CAS decision," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "The IOC had acted at the time based on advice from WADA that the substance was prohibited."

The issue will be discussed at next week's IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne. The board is expected to ratify the CAS decision and restore Calle's medal.

Calle became a national hero when she won the bronze, becoming the first Colombian to win an Olympic cycling medal.

American cyclist Erin Mirabella, who finished fourth in the race, was moved up to third after Calle was stripped.

Thomas Bach, head of the IOC's legal commission, said the medal never went to Mirabella because the IOC was waiting for a ruling on Calle's appeal.

Bach said the IOC would consult with WADA about the mention of "related" or "similar" substances on the banned list.

"What CAS is saying is that the so-called related substances are subject to challenge," he said. "WADA will have to look into it and consider whether it needs to change the code."

Source
canada.com
AP Photo/Luis Benavides