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GB cyclist Lizzie Armitstead cites family trauma in doping case
Armitstead is one of the favourites to win gold in the women’s road race in Rio on Sunday.
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The 27-year-old was suspended on July 11 but on July 21 CAS ruled a UKAD doping control officer had failed to follow procedure on the first of the three tests, in August last year.
“I have always been and will always be a clean athlete and have been vocal in my anti-doping stance throughout my career”.
“Integrity is something I strive for in every part of my life”, she added.
Lizzie Armitstead, the current road world champion from Great Britain, will be going to Rio.
“I love sport and the values it represents”, she wrote. All the hard work being for nothing.
As this person said: “They can call at anytime, as far as I am concerned – if we don’t comply and have these checks in place, it takes all the trust out of sport”, before adding “I always make sure I can hear the doorbell” when the hour of declared whereabouts arrives.
Drug testers from UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) could not find Armistead on three occasions during the past year (August 20 2015, October 5, 2015, and June 9, 2016), resulting in an automatic suspension from the sport, pending an independent review into whether she had violated doping rules.
Armitstead’s was charged with three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period, which could have carried a suspension of up to four years.
Armitstead says she did contest the first test in a written explanation to UKAD, but it was not accepted on the eve of her journey to Richmond in the United States for the World Championships.
A world road cycling champion, she won an appeal against an anti-doping rule violation that could have forced her to miss the Olympics.
Having been refused the information by the hotel, he tried to contact Armitstead on a mobile phone which was on silent while she slept.
“I understand how important it is to be vigilant in my role as a professional athlete and realise the potential implications this could have had”, her statement continued.
Armitstead says she had slept in the location advised, but had forgotten to change her nominated time slot. Instead they sought their own legal advice about Armitstead’s position on its podium programme and Rio selection and shared the detail with her lawyer, with Armitstead making the decision to go to CAS and funding the cost of the appeal.
Experienced Canadian mountain biker Geoff Kabush tweeted, “1st test understandable but I’d be hyper aware about missing 2nd”.
Earlier on Monday Armitstead was cagey when questioned on her absence from recent races. They accepted the circumstances I was in.
“It was a traumatic time and I forgot to change a box on a form”.
After the second “strike”, Armitstead met with UKAD and British Cycling to discuss a support plan.
“I am not a robot, I am a member of a family – my commitment to them comes over and above my commitment to cycling”.
“We respect the outcome of the CAS hearing against Elizabeth Armitstead”, UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said.
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Armitstead said she contested the missed test with a written explanation after learning of it, but that the letter was not accepted before she traveled to the US for last year’s world championships.