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Hamilton awaits arbitration decision

By Agence France Presse
Published: Mar. 13, 2005

An arbitration decision in the blood-doping case of U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Tyler Hamilton is still on hold, according to the cyclist himself.

Hamilton wrote on his website that while the hearing itself has ended, arbitrators are still considering the evidence given at the proceedings in Colorado, where the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency argued its case and Hamilton offered his defense.

"Normally a case closes when the hearing ends," Hamilton wrote. "However, my case was fairly complicated, given the amount of testimony provided. So, for a number of reasons, it is still officially open. Once it closes, the arbitrators will have 10 days to write an opinion."

Hamilton's lawyer, Howard Jacobs, said some of the evidence heard at last week's arbitration hearing included testimony from scientific experts as to the validity of the test.

Hamilton won the time trial at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, but subsequently tested positive for a banned blood transfusion. He kept his gold medal because his B sample had been deep-frozen and could not be analyzed.

He tested positive for blood doping again during the eighth stage of the Vuelta a España on September 11; this time, both the A and B samples were positive.

Spaniard Santi’ Perez, Hamilton's teammate on Phonak, also tested positive for blood doping after the Vuelta. He, too, denied wrongdoing. But on March 1, the 27-year-old received a two-year suspension from the Spanish Cycling Federation.