The Respondent, Torri Edwards, is an elite athlete who has repeatedly been through doping control, with no positive results during her five year professional career. She exercised caution by not using the previously opened container offered by het trainer for fear of contamination, and the did take from his a locally purchased scaled glucose packet which was in a rare (and, at least on the individual packet, unmarked) combination with the prohibited substance shown in het subsequent test.
Respondent states that she had no reason to suspect, in spite of the highly charged environment of contaminated supplements and doping violations in the elite athlete community, that sealed packages of glucose would ever be combine with other substances, as it is always packaged alone (except, she had now learned to her detriment, in France and Vietnam.
The Panel find that exceptional circumstances may here exist. The Panel further determine, based in part of the lack of precedent under these newly promulgated rules as to what may constitute "no fault of negligence" under Rule 40.2 and "no significant fault or no significant negligence" under Rule 40.3, that referral to the IAAF pursuant to Rule 38.16 is the proper course of action. Accordingly, we adjourn these proceedings as set forth in subpart (o) thereof, and await the decision of the IAAF.
The Respondent concedes that she failed in her "personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his body tissues of fluids. Athletes are warned that they shall be held responsible for any prohibited substance found to be present in their bodies (IAAF Rule 38.12(i). Respondent accepts responsibility and stipulated that there was a doping violation. Therefore, the only issue submitted to the panel is whether to impose the requisite sanction, or to find that there may be exception circumstances under Rule 38,12(iii).
The administrative fees and expenses of the American Arbitration Association and the compensation and expenses of the arbitrators shall by borne entirely by USADA.
