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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

Chepkemei Sanctioned for Doping Violation

Posted February 26th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

Four-time IAAF World Half-Marathon medalist Susan Chepkemei has been sanctioned for a doping violation, the IAAF reported yesterday. In an out-of-competition test in Kenya last September, Chepkemei’s sample returned a positive result for Salbutamol, a medication commonly prescribed for breathing problems, usually asthma.

Indeed, according to Valentijn Trouw of Global Sports Communications, the Dutch management firm which represents Chepkemei, the medication was given to their athlete by a doctor in a Nairobi hospital where Chepkemei had presented herself for treatment.

“Beginning of September Susan Chepkemei had a severe pneumonia,” Trouw said in a written statement. “After investigation in the hospital in Nairobi, she was told by the doctor to take a medicine (which contained the substance Salbutamol). Susan was convinced the doctor who gave her the prescription knew she was an international top athlete and she was given a medicine that didn’t contain any substance which is prohibited according to the doping list. She took the medicine that evening.”
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TFS News Briefs: 2/12/08

Posted February 12th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

UK Athletics Allows Chambers to Compete But Is Not Happy About It
UK Athletics, the governing body of British Track & Field will allow previously-banned sprinter Dwain Chambers to compete in the IAAF World Indoor Championships. The relented after Chambers threatened a lawsuit; however, they are not happy about it and have issued a strongly-worded statement expressing their displeasure.
Read more at: [Yorkshire Post, UK]

Hall Won’t Compete in World X-C Championships
Ryan Hall, in a phone call to the New York Track Writers Association, told them that he would not compete in the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships (Edinburgh, Scotland, March 30th) if he were to qualify, saying,” I don’t think I would go because I don’t think it would fit into my [London Marathon] buildup.” Since Hall was probably a shoe in, that leaves one extra slot for a determined runner who might not otherwise make the team.
Read more at: [NY Times]

WCSN Has Impressive 2008 Schedule
WCSN has an impressive lineup of track & field and cross-country events, including the IAAF World Track & Field Indoor Championships (3/7-3/9 in Valencia, Spain), the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (3/30 in Edinburgh, Scotland) and a host of IAAF Super Grand Prix, Grand Prix and Permit meetings throughout the year.
Read more at: [WCSN]
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Marion Jones’s Letter to Friends and Family

Posted November 24th, 2007 at 4:30 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

Dear family and close friends,

I hope this letter finds all of you well. I know some of you must be wondering where the pictures are that I so often attach to my emails. Unfortunately, this is a much different type of letter. I write this letter to all of you for a few reasons.

The first is simply because I love you all. Some things will be happening in the next week that I want you all to know about from me FIRST. You deserve this because you have been there for me from the very beginning. You have supported me throughout the many struggles that I have had in my life and continue to do so to this day. You deserve to hear about Marion from Marion and not from the USA Today or CNN.

The second reason is because I finally want to shed much baggage that has been tearing me down for a long time. I want to share with you all my humanness. The fact that I have made mistakes in my life, made bad decisions, and have carried a great amount of pain and hurt throughout my life.
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IAAF Annuls all Marion Jones Results from September 2000

Posted November 23rd, 2007 at 5:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

Marion Jones should be stripped of five Olympic medals from the 2000 Games in the wake of her confession last month to using performance-enhancing drugs, the sport’s world governing body announced today.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council formally disqualified Jones from all competitions on or subsequent to September 1, 2000, in effect wiping nearly seven years from the sprinter’s competitive slate.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said that the Council will also recommend to the International Olympic Committee to disqualify the U.S. women’s 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay teams from the Sydney Games, “And to insist on the return of all medals and diplomas.”

But the governing body stopped short of recommending that controversial Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, who was the silver medallist in the 100 behind Jones, be awarded the gold medal.
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Slovenia’s Ceplak Edges Closer to Two-Year Doping Ban

Posted November 20th, 2007 at 2:10 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Drugs In Sports

Olympic 800m bronze medallist Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia edged closer to a two-year doping ban today after the nation’s athletics federation rejected any doubts about the validity of the athlete’s positive test for EPO last June.

“All doubts about the tests’ accuracy have been disproved,” said Peter Kukovica, president of the AZS, Slovenia’s athletics federation, announcing the unanimous decision by the federation’s anti-doping commission.

The 31-year-old Ceplak, the world indoor record holder in the 800m, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO after an out-of-competition test in Monte Carlo on June 18. The B sample test confirmed the A sample finding, resulting in a provisional suspension by the sport’s international governing body, the IAAF, on July 26.

In September, the anti-doping commission was unable to reach a decision in the case, pending an additional investigation. Expert testimony since from two noted biochemists and the Slovenian athletics team doctor has dispelled any possibility of testing irregularities, Kukovica said.
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President Diack’s Speech to World Conference on Doping in Sport

Posted November 17th, 2007 at 3:12 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

On the second day of the third World Conference on Doping in Sport organised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which is taking place in Madrid, Spain, IAAF President Lamine Diack made the following speech addressing the IAAF’s position with regard to the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code :

The occasion of this third World Anti-Doping Conference, and a first revision of the World Anti-Doping Code, marks a new chapter in the modern day fight against doping and is an appropriate time to reflect not only upon what has been achieved since the introduction of the Code four years ago but also to examine some of the key areas which still need to be addressed.
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Managers Will Not Represent Athletes Who Have Been Banned

Posted November 15th, 2007 at 2:51 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Announcements, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

The Association of Athletics Managers (AAM) agreed at their autumn meeting in Miami last week that its members will not represent any athlete who has tested positive and was convicted of a doping violation for which he or she has served a two-year ban or longer.

The AAM represents 29 athletics managers and management firms, including big players like Jos Hermens’ Global Sports Communications and Federico Rosa’s Rosa & Associatti.

The move was applauded by the Euromeetings group, which represents 48 indoor and outdoor meetings in Europe.
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IOC President Asserts Zero Tolerance Against Doping as Top Priority of His Mandate

Posted November 12th, 2007 at 11:04 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

Speaking ahead of the World Conference on Doping in Sport that will open in Madrid next week, IOC President Jacques Rogge said that the fight against doping remained at the top of the agenda of the Olympic Movement.

“I would like to reiterate the IOC’s total commitment to the fight against doping,” he said to reporters during a teleconference.

“The IOC has been a pioneer in establishing, back in 1967, the IOC Medical Commission and in rallying International Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and governments to the cause. We created WADA in 1999, after the Festina case during the Tour de France clearly indicated that more needed to be done. Since then, the IOC has been wholeheartedly supporting WADA and will continue to do so in the future”.

Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: SummerOlympian.com

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Athletics Managers Group Agrees to Not Represent Banned T&F Athletes

Posted November 12th, 2007 at 9:21 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

An agreement has been reached by the Association of Athletics Managers (AAM) that its members will not represent any athlete who tests positive and is convicted of a doping violation for which he or she serves a two-year ban or longer. It is believed to be one of the first such agreements in any sport.

The association, whose 29 members represent many of the top track-and-field athletes in the world, reached the decision at its annual meeting in Miami Beach, which ended Thursday (8).

Among other issues discussed were ways to streamline meet payments to athletes and to improve conditions for athletes on both the IAAF World Athletics Tour and at major championships.
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IOC, IAAF move forward on Marion Jones doping case

Posted November 6th, 2007 at 2:19 PM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has confirmed that former Olympic champion, famous sprinter Marion Jones, would face further action by the IOC after IAAF’s treatment upon her.

After years of denying she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted in court that she’d taken the designer steroid known as “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001.

After her confession, the U.S. Olympic Committee stripped her of the five medals she earned at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

President Rogge said these medals were delivered to the IOC on Tuesday and that the IOC would move on further measures based on the IAAF decision. Read the rest of this entry »

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