Still not out of the woods

Tyler Hamilton Cleared to Keep Olympic Gold - IOC
By Justin Palmer
LONDON (Reuters) - Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton has been cleared of any doping offence at the Athens Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) (IOC (news - web sites)) said on Thursday.

American Hamilton had been told that he gave a positive test for a blood transfusion in Athens on August 18 but the IOC said in a statement that the result of the B, or second, test was "non-conclusive" because the sample had been destroyed by being deep-frozen.

"The disciplinary procedure has had to be stopped because of the non-conclusive result," the statement said.
"The IOC will not be pursuing sanctions regarding this matter."
Hamilton still faces possible sanctions from cycling's ruling body, the UCI, after he was told he gave a positive test for a blood transfusion following his time trial victory during this month's Tour of Spain. The UCI is yet to officially comment.

Arnie Ljungqvist, head of the IOC's medical commission, told reporters that it had been a mistake to deep-freeze Hamilton's B sample from Athens.

"The blood sample was unfortunately destroyed. It should not have been deep frozen (in the laboratory)," he said in a teleconference.

HUMAN ERROR
"It was human error, caused by the unusual workload that prevailed during the Olympics... because there were three new tests introduced for the Athens Games and because the number of overall samples during the Olympic period was increased by 50 percent.

"Here we have a case where the A sample was deemed clearly positive by a panel of outside experts and was also agreed upon by the chief of the laboratory in Athens.

"But then we have the B analysis... the rules are clear, legally such a case will be deemed negative because the A (test) did not confirm the B."

The rider had faced losing his gold medal if his B test at the Olympics had been positive.
Hamilton, 33, withdrew from the Tour of Spain on Friday citing a stomach upset. He was suspended on Wednesday by his Phonak team, who said in a statement on Thursday that Hamilton's Tour of Spain B test was positive.

The American has maintained he is "100 percent innocent," while Phonak said he would remain with the team until "clarity" was achieved. Phonak also plan to set up a "scientific board" to check the reliability of the test method.

Hamilton could be banned for two years, effectively ending his career, if the UCI officially declares that he is guilty of doping offences in the Tour of Spain. If found guilty he would be the first athlete to be caught having a blood transfusion.

Hamilton finished fourth in the 2003 Tour de France despite breaking his collar bone in a crash at the end of the first stage. He used to support Lance Armstrong on the U.S. Postal team before leaving in 2001 to become team leader with CSC Tiscali.