Drugs in Sport: No Trace of Thg in Salt Lake Samples

The International Olympic Committee announced last night that the retesting of the urine samples collected during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City showed no trace of the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

These findings support the results obtained by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the International Swimming Federation, the International Rowing Federation and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) following their retesting of samples from previous competitions.

"These scientific findings are reassuring and confirm my initial gut feeling that THG was used on a limited scale," said the IOC president Jacques Rogge.

Canada's national bobsleigh champion Kendra Herbert has been banned for three months and stripped of the gold medal she won with Helen Upperton after testing positive for ephedrine.

Herbert's positive result came during a random test at the national championships in Calgary last November.

She can return to competition on February 8, making her eligible to compete at the world championships in Germany later that month.

"Her defence was written confidential so I am not sure of the information she presented," said the managing director of Bobsleigh Canada, Shane Pearsall.

"The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport reviewed her case and decided her explanation was not good enough."