AWARDS:
Tyler Hamilton is an elite level cyclist. In 2003 he finished fourth at the Tour de France. Although Mr. Hamilton was a serious contender for the 2004 Tour de France, he had to withdraw from the race after he sustained injury from a fall during the early stages of the race. He recovered sufficiently to compete in the cycling “time trial” event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and won the gold medal for the United States.
On the day after his Olympic victory, Mr. Hamilton provided a blood sample for testing by the WADA approved laboratory in Athens, Greece.
Mr. Hamilton’s A sample was eventually reported as being positive for the presence of transfused blood on the basis that is contained a mixed red blood cell population. The B sample was inadvertently frozen by the Athens lab thereby destroying the red blood cells in that specimen. Therefore, the B analysis of Mr. Hamilton’s Olympic sample was not able to confirm the positive A sample finding and no doping offense was found to have occurred. As a consequence, Mr. Hamilton was confirmed as the gold medal winner of the Olympic time trial cycling event.
UCI sent a warning letter to Mr. Hamilton, dated June 10, 2004. The letter also goes on to state that Mr. Hamilton would be closely monitored in 2004 in terms of his doping tests.
On September 11, 2004, at the Vuelta cycling competition, Mr. Hamilton was targeted for testing at the request of ICI. The Lausanne Laboratory reported Mr. Hamilton’s sample as positive for the presence of transfused blood. Under UCI-rules, a blood transfusion that is not required for valid medical reasons, constitutes doping. Mr. Hamilton has denied receiving any type of transfusion during the relevant period.
On September 23, 2004, Tyler Hamilton was suspended by his team ARcycling as a result of the doping charges. He was therefore no longer able to compete in professional road cycling. On November 30, 2004, Mr. Hamilton was dismissed from his team as a result of the doping charges.
On February 23, 2005, a hearing was commenced in Denver, Colorado. Testimony and closing arguments were concluded on March 2, 2005.
The Panel concludes that the mixed RBC population arising from the Vuelta sample analysis has a very high probability of having caused by a blood transfusion, and an extremely low to the point of negligible probability of having been caused by Tyler Hamilton being a human chimera.
The finding of a mixed RBC population in Mr. Hamilton’s blood sample is based upon the state of the science known and brought to the attention of the Panel as of the date of this decision.
The conclusion is also based upon the evidence and state of the record of these proceedings before the Panel at the time of this decision.
The finding that the presence of the mixed blood population in Tyler Hamilton’s Vuelta sample was due to a homologous blood transfusion, brings the UCI Anti-Doping Rules into application.
The Panel therefore finds that a doping violation has been committed by Tyler Hamilton. The minimum suspension for a first offender is two years. Tyler Hamilton is therefore suspended from competition for a period of two years commencing, April 18, 2005. All of his competitive results from September 11, 2004, including the Vuelta competition are cancelled.
The administrative fees and expenses of the American Arbitration Association and the compensation and expenses of the arbitrators shall by borne entirely by USADA.
DISSENTING OPINION:
Chrstopher L. Campbel
1. The Lausanne Laboratory's failure to provide the measure of uncertaintly means its testing method failed to meet the prevailing standards of the scientific community.
2. The testing method applied subjective evaluation an this method has not been properly validated.
- The testing method should be objective and quantitative.
- The WADA criteria used a subjective, visual identification method that has not been peer reviewed of properly validated.
3. Appearance of a fair hearing
