--- Mike Prizy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > And, > > Was her four-year suspension under the old rules? > > Did that get rescinded to two years? > > If it stayed at four years, why was USA > Weightlifting even testing her? (strike one in 1994, > strike > two in 1997) > > If it was a four-year term, could she have been > eligible for another IOC member sport during the > suspension? (Is USA Weightlifting an USOC/IOC > member?) >
Found this in a November 14, 2001 Chicago Tribune article: Johnson, 34, argued that the positive result came from testing flaws and fought her four-year suspension by the international track federation, getting an injunction that allowed her to compete at the 1996 U.S. Olympic track trials. The ban eventually was halved when the international federation was compelled not to levy four-year bans because of right-to-work laws. Also, USA Weightlifting (USAW) is the National Governing Body (NGB) for Olympic weightlifting in the United States, and a member of the USOC. It's strange that most articles regarding her bobsledding career only mention the track suspension and omit the 2nd offense. Also strange is that the USAW Web site has only one mention of an athlete drug suspension, which is Gea Johnson's. Here is the URL and text from the site: http://www.usaweightlifting.org/NEWS/dopingsus.html In a doping control conducted in April 1997, USA Weightlifter Gea Johnson was reported to have an elevated finding for epitestosterone, her reported level of testosterone was not elevated. Ms. Johnson has contended that this was the result of a medical condition which she suffered at the time. However, in recognition of USAW and IWF anti-doping rules and to avoid the time and expense of further proceedings in connection with this test, Ms. Johnson has acknowledged that her elevated epitestosterone finding constitutes a doping violation and she has accepted a two-year suspension from the date of the test including forfeiture of all competitive results and awards earned during this suspension period. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com
