Smith files appeal with arbitration body
Posted: Friday September 04, 1998 12:32 PM
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Smith was found guilty of tampering with an out-of-competition urine test taken at her home in January Ross Kinnaird/Allsport |
BC-Sports-Swimming-Drugs-Smith Appeal
Smith appeals FINA four-year drug ban
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Irish triple Olympic gold medalist
Michelle Smith has appealed against the four-year ban imposed on
her by swimming's world governing body after it found her guilty of
manipulating a doping test.
Smith, who filed the appeal with the International Court of
Arbtration for Sport on Thursday, could be swimming competitively
by Christmas if her appeal against the FINA ban is successful.
CAS spokesman Matthieu Reeb said the Swiss-based international
court would most likely be Smith's final instance for appeal.
"The first step is an exchange of written statements between
the two parties and then we set a date for an arbitration hearing
in Lausanne," he said.
Reeb said it was CAS policy to settle disputes within four
months of the date that the relevant sporting body handed down its original decision against an athlete.
He said Smith and FINA could each choose one arbitrator from a
list of 150 sports law and arbitration experts and CAS would
appoint a president to head a three-person panel to hear Smith's
appeal.
At a FINA doping panel hearing on August 6, Smith was found guilty
of tampering with an out-of-competition urine test taken at her
home in Kilkenny, Ireland in January.
The panel said the sample contained a large quantity of alcohol,
probably whiskey.
The ban included the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the 2001 World
Championships, in effect ending the 28-year-old swimmer's career.
"I am fighting for my reputation and for my right to go to
Sydney," Smith said after the FINA ban was handed down.
"I know I have never done anything in the past to put myself or
my family or my country to shame. I am determined to follow this
through to the end. I look forward to doing my country proud
again."
Smith said the alcohol in he sample hadn't prevented the IOC
drug testing laboratory in Barcelona, Spain, from determining that
no performance-enhancing drug or signs of drug use were present.
"I had no motive for introducing alcohol or indeed any other
masking agent into my sample, as I have never tested positive for
the use of any banned substance throughout my career," she said.
Smith said FINA had produced no proof that she was to blame for
the added alcohol. She accused FINA of conspiring "to ensure that
I did not swim again and to ensure that, by whatever method was
available to them, a ban was imposed."
Smith had a mediocre record before capturing three gold medals
and a bronze at the Atlanta Games, three years after Erik de Bruin
became her coach.
Her marriage to de Bruin, the Dutch discus and shot put champion
banned for four years after testing positive to excessive
testosterone, stirred speculation that her own meteoric rise had
been aided by drugs.
However, Smith said she had been tested more often than any of
her rivals.
FINA said her original and backup drug tests, which were stored
and tested separately, both showed high-alcohol content. This, it
said, ruled out the possibility that anyone other than Smith had
tampered with the samples.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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