SportsLine.com wire reports
April 25, 2000
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- World swimming's governing body appears ready
to lift the four-year suspensions given to two swimmers who tested positive for
nandrolone.
FINA said Tuesday it had received evidence that the steroid could have been
present in meat the swimmers consumed.
Any rollback of the suspension could have wide implications for the many
cases of positive nandrolone findings among elite athletes.
Long-distance swimmers David Mecca-Medina of Spain and Igor Majcen of
Slovenia were suspended in August 1999 by FINA after testing positive for the
steroid. The two subsequently lost an appeal against the ban Feb. 29 in the
Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The swimmers argued that the positive tests came after they ate meat of
uncastrated pigs in a local dish called "sarapatel" before a meet in Brazil.
In a statement Tuesday, FINA said lawyers for Mecca-Medina and Majcen
offered evidence that recent tests showed three volunteers had eaten a meal of
boar meat and subsequently showed signs of nandrolone metabolites.
FINA said the results "warrant further examinations which may lead to a
review" of the suspensions.
The swimming body said the lawyers for the two swimmers would file a
"revision petition" with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. FINA said if the
court agreed to review the cases, the bans would be temporarily lifted.
FINA said it had agreed to the review to "contribute to fair experiments in
order to remove any possible uncertainties with regard to findings of
nandrolone metabolites."
Nandrolone, a steroid that has been available for decades and is easily
detectable in standard urine tests, produced a total of 343 positive cases
across all sports last year.
Among the high-profile athletes who have tested positive for nandrolone are
1992 Olympic 100-meter champion Linford Christie, former world 200-meter
champion Merlene Ottey and former Olympic 5,000-meter gold medalist Dieter
Baumann.
In March, track and field's world governing body said it would carry out
research to determine whether food supplements or herbal preparations can
trigger positive tests for nandrolone.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
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