In a split decision, a three-member arbitration panel from the American Arbitration Association/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (AAA/CAS) has ruled that former Phonak star Tyler Hamilton is guilty of homologous doping - transfusing another person’s blood - and ordered the 34-year-old American suspended from competition until April of 2007.

The panel handed down the maximum sentence for a first-time doping offense, ordering that Hamilton begin serving that suspension on Monday and forfeit any results earned on or after the date of his positive test, September 11, 2004, the date Hamilton won the eighth stage of the Vuelta a España.

The decision was applauded by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency head Terry Madden.

"The UCI took the necessary action to protect the integrity of its sport,” Madden said. “This decision shows that sport is committed to protecting the rights of all clean athletes and that no athlete is above the rules." Hamilton first tested positive at the 2004 Olympics, after winning a gold medal in the individual time trial. That A-sample positive, however, was not confirmed by a required test on his B-sample, because the laboratory in Athens followed existing laboratory protocol and froze the entire blood sample, rendering its red cells unsuitable for testing.

Hamilton was tested again at the Vuelta de España on September 11, 2004, after he won the stage 8 individual time trial. Both the A- and the B-samples taken in Spain showed indications of a foreign blood population, and Hamilton was informed of the outcome of the Athens and Vuelta tests on September 13.

Following the announcement of the Athens and Vuelta positives, UCI officials released documents showing that Hamilton and his Phonak team had, on at least two separate occasions, been notified of “irregularities” in blood samples submitted by the rider during last May’s Tour of Romandie.

One test showed that Hamilton had a blood hematocrit level (the percentage of red blood cells) of 49.7 percent. That level stood in stark contrast to other test results that showed Hamilton’s hematocrit to be as low as 38 percent. The UCI, in 1997, established 50 percent as an upper limit for riders to be permitted to compete, requiring riders who show a higher level to take a two-week “rest” break. Riders who have presented compelling medical evidence to show that their hematocrit levels are naturally higher than 50 percent are granted an exemption to that rule. There is no record of Hamilton having requested such an exemption.

Instead, Hamilton has repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the tests and procedures employed to monitor riders’ blood levels, a defense that was later carried into a challenge of the doping test first employed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

The test relies on a 30-year-old medical technology often used in hospitals to separate sub-groups in common blood types, was applied to the doping question in an Australian study first published in the journal Haematologica (August 2002, Nelson, Ashenden, Langshaw and Popp)

While the majority of the panel rejected Hamilton's challenges to the veracity of the test, arbiter Christopher Campbell said that USADA and others defending the procedure had failed to present a compelling case. Campbell pointed to what he said was a failure on the part of WADA to accurately document the actual risk of false positives in the test developed by scientists in Australia.

Campbell argued that while WADA could have relied on a very objective and verifiable set of standards to detect such false readings, the agency took an “I know it when I see it” approach to quality control.

Furthermore, Campbell said that the testing procedures failed to take into account other factors that could have influenced the outcome of a flow cytometry examination of a population of red blood cells, including bone marrow transplant and recent pregnancies, obviously neither of which was raised as a defense in the Hamilton case.

While a great deal of public speculation has revolved around an apparent delay in the release of the decision, the USADA announcement on Monday noted that it was Hamilton’s attorneys who had asked for the additional time to present further evidence in the rider’s defense.

"The case was referred to USADA for handling by the UCI. The scheduling of the case was expedited by USADA at Hamilton's request. However, the AAA/CAS panel provided Hamilton over a month extension following the hearing to submit any additional evidence in his defense. USADA did not object to the extension.”

Hamilton's two-year suspension ends on April 17, 2007. He also forfeits all competitive results achieved from the date of his positive, meaning that his Vuelta results have been negated, giving the stage win to former Postal rider Victor Hugo Peña, who has since transferred to Phonak.

Phonak was especially hard hit in the case, as Hamilton and his former teammate, Santiago Perez, remain the only athletes to have ever tested positive for homologous blood doping. Earlier in the year, Perez received a two-year suspension from the Spanish Cycling Federation.

The team was subsequently cut from the proposed roster of ProTour teams, a UCI decision that was later reversed by the international Court of Arbitration for Sport on the grounds that the governing body had acted prematurely, eliminating Phonak prior to the resolution of the Hamilton and Perez case.

The UCI has not indicated that it would seek the ouster Phonak from the ProTour no matter how the two doping cases were ultimately settled. Since the scandal, the team has undergone a major management shakeup, including the replacement of its team manager, director and doctor. Under proposed ProTour rules, Hamilton and Perez would not be eligible to ride for a ProTour team for a full four years from the date of their initial positives, although both could opt for continental teams after the expiration of their respective suspensions.

Hamilton has the option of appealing the ruling to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, an option he has repeatedly said he would pursue.The full text of the panel's decision is available at www.USAntidoping.org. Hamilton’s own observations and reflections on the case can be found at www.TylerHamilton.com Your reaction? Send your thoughts to WebLetters@InsideInc.com.Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited forlength and clarity.

---

Related Articles
Hamiltonblood tests show 'inconsistencies' - September 20, 2004
Olympiccase dropped against Hamilton - September23, 2004
TheHamilton Case: A doctor explains blood doping - September 28, 2004
Greekofficials investigate Hamilton case - December 20, 2004
Hamiltonawaits arbitration decision - March 13, 2005