CYCLING: A defective result from the B test means that the American Tyler Hamilton will not be stripped of the Olympic time-trial gold medal he won in Athens in spite of an apparent positive result for blood doping on his first blood sample, writes William Fotheringham.
However, Hamilton may still face a possible two-year ban for a second positive blood test conducted by the International Cycling Union this month.
The newly-devised test is intended to reveal whether an athlete has been given a transfusion of blood from a donor in order to boost performance by increasing the quantity of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in his bloodstream.
Signs that Hamilton had received blood from an outside source were found in the A sample taken from him on August 19th after his victory in Athens, but analysis of the B sample could neither confirm nor disprove the initial finding because of "lack of enough intact red blood cells", the International Olympic Committee said yesterday.
The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Dick Pound, said yesterday that he was mystified by the conflicting results from Hamilton's two samples from the Olympic Games. "We are perfectly satisfied when it is properly implemented the test is reliable, but how it was applied, what was analysed, all that stuff, I don't know."
The initial implication would appear to be that the sample may not have been conserved properly after it was taken from Hamilton in Athens, or that insufficient blood was taken.
The IOC added that it had ended its investigation into Hamilton's case and "would not be pursuing sanctions regarding this matter".
However, the picture remains unclear regarding a second test carried out on Hamilton at the Tour of Spain on September 11th. That found anomalies similar to those in the Athens A sample, and Hamilton's Phonak team said yesterday the back-up sample had also tested positive.
RUGBY: Cardiff's Millennium Stadium is set to host the Lions in May in a warm-up game for their tour of New Zealand.
Confirmation of the fixture - against Argentina on Monday, May 23rd - is expected this morning, when the venue will also be announced by the Welsh Rugby Union chief executive, David Moffett, and the WRU chairman, David Pickering.
The game, a key part of Lions coach Clive Woodward's planning, will take place just two days before the 70-strong tour party fly to Auckland.
The Lions have not played in Cardiff for 18 years. On that occasion - a game to celebrate the International Rugby Board's centenary - they lost 15-7 against a Rest of the World XV.
Whether former England boss Woodward will have all his players available remains to be seen. The warm-up match is scheduled 24 hours after the Heineken European Cup final.
