The lawyers for Australian Olympian Peter Bol are calling on the Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) anti-doping organization to end its investigation into the 800-meter runner and apologize for its “mistake” claiming Bol tested positive for rEPO, according to multiple news reports, including The Sydney Morning Herald and Guardian Australia.
Bol, who finished fourth in the 800 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, was banned from competition by Athletics Australia earlier this year after the SIA reported his out-0f-competition test was positive for rEPO (the synthetic version of EPO, which is a banned substance).
Then, in February, another test result came back as “atypical,” which prompted Athletics Australia to lift its provisional ban on Bol, but the SIA investigation continued to move forward.
Since then, Bol’s legal team sent his initial results to two independent labs, both of which stated, “there is no evidence to show the presence of synthetic EPO in [Bol’s] urine,” according to Guardian Australia.
The letter from Bol’s legal team claims a number of alleged errors in the laboratory testing process that led to the interpretation of a positive result, according to Guardian Australia. The lawyers write, “This was not even a close call. Instead, this was a blunder of epic proportions.”
Bol will not compete in the Australian Track and Field Championships, which began earlier this week, but might return to competition in Europe in May, per the news outlet.
“I knew it would come,” he told Nine newspapers, per Guardian Australia. “The people who analy[z]ed it had no idea who I was, and it shows in detail how [ASDTL] messed up. I want them to acknowledge that. I don’t want to fight, but I don’t want to go quietly either. We want to improve the whole sport. You can’t have innocent athletes getting done for something they’ve never used.”
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
