Related cases:
- AAA No. 30 190 00686 04 USADA vs Eddy Hellebuyck
December 9, 2004 - CAS 2005_A_831 IAAF vs Eddy Hellebuyck
May 5, 2006
The Respondent, Hellebuyck, was a member of USA Track & Field, Inc. ("USATF")' for the time period in question in this case.
Respondent was an elite-level distance runner in the sport of track and field. He has won over 20 marathons in his career. He was a 1996 Olympian and a member of 5 World Championship teams- combined for both his native Belgium and his adopted home of the United States. He has also been a Masters level runner for a number of years.
On January 31, 2004, Hellebuyck provided a urine sample as part of USADA's out of competition drug testing program. The WADA accredited laboratory at the University of California Los Angeles found Hellebuyck's sample positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO).
Based on admissions by Respondent, Eddy Hellebuyck, that he took EPO on multiple occasions prior to January 31, 2004, the starting date for his doping sanction previously imposed by prior AAA and CAS panels, Claimant, United States Anti-Doping Agency ("USADA" or "Claimant") seeks to extend back in time the period of Hellebuyck's in eligibility to disqualify his prior results and cause forfeiture of any medals and prize money Hellebuyck may have obtained during that extended period.
In what the Panel believes is a case of first impression, the Panel determines that Hellebuyck’s perjury in a proceeding before the anti-doping tribunal established by the USOC, WADA and lAAF precludes Hellebuyck from arguing for any protection under lAAF or WADA Rules regarding limiting the time USADA has to pursue charges against him. Athletes" in AAA and CAS tribunals cannot be forced to testify against themselves, they can choose not to testify.
However, if they choose to testify before an AAA or CAS tribunal, they have a legal duty to testify truthfully. Hellebuyck breached that duty when he testified that he never used EPO in his 2004 hearing before the AAA and 2005 hearing before CAS. But for his perjury, Hellebuyck's records would have been expunged from 2001 through 2004. Hellebuyck cannot now come before this tribunal and in essence use his perjury as a means to avoid the consequences that should have been imposed in 2004. As a result, Respondent's sanction for his first anti-doping offense shall be modified to invalidate his competitive results from October 1, 2001 through January 30, 2004.
On the basis of the foregoing facts and legal aspects, the Panel renders the following decision:
- Respondent has committed a doping violation under Article 2.1 of the 2009 version of the WADA Code.
- The following sanction shall be imposed on Respondent: Respondent's sanction for his first anti-doping offense shall be extended and modified to invalidate his competitive results from October 1, 2001 through January 30, 2004.
