World 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery's lawyers said today they would press for arbitration abroad over doping charges against the sprinter by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
"We are contesting the charges and will demand arbitration," a spokesman for Montgomery's lawyer said. "Tim Montgomery has done nothing wrong, and we believe that any fair reading of the evidence in fact supports his innocence."
Lawyers said Montgomery would go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland for a ruling.
"We are taking this step because we believe that USADA's conduct...has been so egregious as to remove any confidence that Tim could be fairly treated in this process," the spokesman added.
A decision by CAS would be final but it may not reach a conclusion by the start of the US Olympic trials which start in Sacramento on July 9th.
Montgomery could thus qualify for August's Athens Games with the spectre of doping allegations hanging over him though it is by no means a given that he would make the team, given his poor form in 2004.
Montgomery and former world indoor 200 metres champion Michelle Collins were among four US sprinters charged by USADA with doping violations that could bring lifetime bans from the sport.