French border police close Szabo drug case

French border police, who seized drugs in a car belonging to Gabriela Szabo earlier this month, have declared the case closed…

French border police, who seized drugs in a car belonging to Gabriela Szabo earlier this month, have declared the case closed and cleared the Olympic champion from any wrongdoing.

"It's a routine case of undeclared importation of medical products," a border police officer told sports daily l'Equipe.

"No doping product was found. The case won't be handed to the prosecutor's office," the officer added in an interview published on Tuesday.

The border police stopped the car on a motorway at La Turbie, near Monaco on May 9th, and arrested Daniel Vlad, a friend of Szabo's driving the car.

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Among the products seized, the French customs found Actovegin, a derivative of calf serum used to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.

The product is currently being scrutinised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but is not yet on its list of banned substances.

Szabo said the Actovegin had been sent by a Romanian physiotherapist for Romanian middle-distance runner Mihaela Botezan.

The six-times world champion also threatened to quit athletics after the incident, saying: "I'm feeling terrible, I never felt so hunted in my life."