Athletics story by Brian Watters, Wed, 14 Dec 2005 09:16:00 GMT


It seems curtains for Tim Montgomery's career after the sprinter was suspended for two years by the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport in Lausanne for doping.

Montgomery, who did not test positive for drugs, was banned on evidence gathered during investigations by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) and its founder Victor Conte. Also found guilty was two-time Olympic relay medallist Chryste Gaines, who has been banned for two years.

As per the ban, Montgomery's world record in 100 metres in year 2002 will be annulled. He will also lose the gold medal he got in the 4x100 metres relay at the 2001 world championships and a silver medal won in the 100 metres.

The court said the testimony given by former world champion Kelli White, who was also found guilty of a similar offence in 2004, were crucial for bans being handed down.

The court's statement read: “The panel unanimously found that Ms. White's testimony was both credible and sufficient to establish that the athletes had indeed admitted to have used prohibited substances in violation of applicable anti-doping rules.”

Both Montgomery and Gaines did not present themselves at the court to testify.

The ruling of this court is considered final and binding.

In fact, USADA demanded a four-year ban for Montgomery in the case.

The three-man panel at CAS accepting USADA's evidence also said that the evidence given by American sprinter, Kelli White, proved to be vital in pronouncing the bans.

According to the CAS, Montgomery, 30, who held a world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002, had told White in March 2001 that he was taking THG, a designer steroid. This steroid had managed to deceive the testers until the summer of 2003.

On the other hand, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will try to recover the money paid to Montgomery.

This is the highest-profile case of a track athlete being suspended since Ben Johnson was found guilty of using stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, which led to his forfeiting gold medal in 1988 Olympics.

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