Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Shot-putter Mark Edwards, who finished second in the British rankings last year and was a coach to disabled throwers at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, has been banned from the sport for three years after testing positive for two performance-enhancing substances.
The 36 year-old, winner of the UK indoor title in 2009 and 2010, was found to have taken the steroids testosterone and Clostebol shortly before last year’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
He was given a longer ban than the standard two-year suspension due to “aggravating circumstances” — the first time that UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has argued successfully for a stiffer penalty than the two-year sanction.
Edwards claimed that he should not have been tested as he had pulled out of the Commonwealth Games on medical grounds the day before he was tested and said he intended to retire from competitive athletics.
He also told a disciplinary tribunal that he had no idea how the substances came to be in his urine sample and suggested it may have been tampered with en route to the laboratory.
But his defence was rejected by the tribunal, who said the presence of more than one banned drug in his sample constituted aggravating circumstances.
In a statement, the tribunal said: “The athlete is a senior athlete and a role model in the throwing community. He runs a sports therapy business and has a history of working with disabled athletes.”
Andy Parkinson, the UKAD chief executive, said: “The three-year suspension should send a strong message to anyone looking to dope in the UK and I hope gives clean athletes the confidence that we will aggressively pursue those who we think are cheating.
“We will continue to work tirelessly to protect the rights of clean athletes in the run-up to London 2012 and beyond.”