Ohuruogu cleared to run in Olympics

LONDON: Britain's newly crowned world 400-meter champion Christine Ohuruogu yesterday was cleared to compete in next year's Beijing Olympic Games with her coach promising the "humble" athlete would now set her sights on adding to her medal tally in China.

The breakthrough for the 23-year-old Londoner came when she won her appeal against a lifetime Olympic ban for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests.

"I'm so pleased for her, we now just have to move on and get this cloud over our head out of the way," Ohuruogu's coach Lloyd Cowan said after it was announced yesterday that the one-lap specialist's ban had been overurned.

"It's not only wonderful news for Christine, but for the nation as well and as her coach I will be doing everything possible to assist her to win an Olympic medal next summer.

"She is such a humble person, she deserves that success. Now it is a case of walking away from what happened and looking to the future."

Her successful appeal sets the seal on a remarkable comeback year for Ohuruogu.

In August, just three weeks after after completing a year-long ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federation for missing the tests, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion won the 400-meter world gold in Osaka, Japan - a race where Britain's Nicola Sanders finished second.

Dick Pound, chief executive of the World Anti-Doping Agency, had said Ohuruogu should be free to compete in Beijing and so too had Britain's world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, herself a noted campaigner against drugs in sport.

"Christine has served her punishment and let us remember - and this is a very crucial fact - she has never failed a drug test," Radcliffe said.

"Drugs, despite all the tests she has undergone in the past, have not been found in her body."

Ohuruogu had taken her appeal before the Sports Dispute Resolutions Panel here on Monday. In this case, they overturned a British Olympic Association (BOA) by-law precluding athletes found guilty of drug-test offenses from competing in future Games.

A statement from the BOA said: "The panel decided that Christine Ohuruogu's appeal had been successful due to significant mitigating circumstances."

Ohuruogu's appeal would have been aided by the cases of triathlete Tim Don and judo competitor Peter Cousins, who were banned under similar circumstances but cleared on appeal.

Britain, unlike a number of other national Olympic associations, imposes a lifetime ban for all athletes found guilty of doping offenses, including missed tests, regardless of other punishments imposed by ruling sporting bodies.

BOA chief executive Simon Clegg, who said he would be happy to have Ohuruogu on the Beijing team should she be selected by UK Athletics, defended the system which led to her ban.

"Athletes must be fully aware of their obligations to keep their whereabouts information up to date at all times and must ensure that they are available for testing at the designated times and places."

Ohuruogu was brought up in Stratford, east London, where the 2012 Olympics will be staged and was widely tipped to be the "face of the Games" for that event until becoming involved in doping controversy.

AFP

(China Daily 11/28/2007 page24)