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Actualité du dopage |
Lizzie Armitstead, who was in danger of missing the Olympic Games in Rio after being suspended by UK Anti-Doping for allegedly missing three tests, has had the decision unanimously overturned by the court of arbitration for sport.
The 27-year-old, one of the favourites to win gold in Sunday's road race, had "whereabouts" failures in August and October 2015, plus June of this year, but a legal team, funded by British Cycling, had the first test struck off the record by arguing a testing official was at fault.
"The ruling relates to a Ukad anti-doping test which was asserted to have been attempted on Thursday 20 August, 2015, whilst Armitstead was staying at the team hotel, during the UCI Women's Road World Cup in Sweden," a statement released on behalf of the cyclist said.
It is understood the official was refused Armitstead's room number at the hotel's reception and attempted to call the world champion but her phone was silent as she was sleeping. That was sufficient evidence for Cas, who "promptly and unanimously cleared Armitstead of the asserted missed test".
"I have always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career," said Armitstead, who was Britain's first medallist of London 2012 with silver in the road race. "I am pleased Cas has accepted my position, having provided detailed information demonstrating the situation around my strikes.
"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, reinforcing my position that I do not cheat and had no intention of not being tested.
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A British Cycling spokesman said: "British Cycling can confirm that following her appeal to the court of arbitration for sport, Lizzie Armitstead remains a part of the Team GB squad for the Rio Games. We are satisfied that the matter has now been resolved and look forward to Rio, where we have full confidence that the team will be a great success."
The other two failures remain on the cyclist's record. If an athlete fails three in the space of 12 months they face up to a four-year suspension. Christine Ohuruogu, the 400m runner, served a year-long ban a decade ago after missing three tests.
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