Rio 2016: Lizzie Armitstead wins CAS appeal against anti-doping rule violation
By SSNHQ
Last Updated: 02/08/16 12:23pm
Lizzie Armitstead has successfully appealed against an anti-doping charge related to three missed drugs tests.
The 27-year-old faced a suspension for 'whereabouts failures' which led to the three tests being missed, but is now clear to compete at the Rio Olympics which get going on Friday.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled UK Anti-Doping's (UKAD) doping control officer had failed to follow procedure on the first of the three tests in question, in August 2015. That test has now been declared void.
The world champion and silver medallist at London 2012 still has the two further missed tests on her record, and a further absence would lead to a rule violation and sanction.
Armitstead was charged by UKAD with three whereabouts failures on July 11, leading to a suspension pending disciplinary action.
The first came at a World Cup event in Sweden on August 20, 2015. The second was an administrative failure on October 5, 2015 and the third was a missed test on June 9, 2016 following "an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family".
Armitstead did not dispute the second two faults, but successfully appealed to CAS over the first missed test. UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said "we respect the outcome" of the hearing.
"I have always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career. I am pleased that CAS has accepted my position, having provided detailed information demonstrating the situation around my strikes," Armitstead said in a statement.
"This issue was one of administration and was the result of UKAD not following proper procedure nor fully attempting to make contact with me despite clear details being provided under 'whereabouts'. I was tested in competition the day after this test [in August 2015], reinforcing my position that I do not cheat and had no intention of not being tested.
"I think that there should be clearer guidelines for those administrating tests and would like to work with UKAD going forward to explore how this can be better addressed in the future so no other athlete is put in this position.
"Meanwhile, I hope that UKAD can now return to the important job of making sure all athletes are clean and that Rio is the clean Olympics that we all want.
"I understand how important it is to be vigilant in my role as a professional athlete and realise the potential implications this could have had.
"I would like to thank British Cycling and the team around me for all of their help and support. I am very much looking forward to putting this situation behind me and firmly focusing on Rio again after what has been an extremely difficult time for myself and my family."
