13 octobre 2003
Fails blood test. Lab results crucial for Lachine cyclist after ejection from world championship
John McFarlane
The Gazette; CP contributed to this report
Monday, October 13, 2003
There is nothing Lachine cyclist Geneviève Jeanson can do now but wait.
The highly ranked cyclist was kicked out of the World Cycling Championships in Hamilton on Saturday after random testing revealed a high red blood cell count. Her chance to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics - and, perhaps, her career - now hang in the balance as she waits for a lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, to test a urine sample for banned substances. Test results take about four days.
At a news conference on Saturday, Jeanson denied any wrongdoing, and said her hematocrit, or red cell count, may have been high because she sleeps in a hypoxic oxygen tent, a practice not uncommon among top athletes.
Yesterday, Jeanson, 22, stayed in Hamilton to watch a men's race and then was scheduled to return home, said Daniel Larouche, a spokesperson for Jeanson's club team.
"We're going to follow up on this when her test results are known," Larouche said. "I don't want to build controversy before the results come out."
Larouche said Jeanson is leaving for a vacation in Europe in the next few days, which was planned long before the weekend controversy.
The blood test, administered Saturday morning before Jeanson's race, was introduced six years ago to combat growing use of synthetic EPO. EPO, or erythropoetin, is a hormone produced by the kidneys when oxygen supply is low.
Gwendoline Spurll of McGill University's hematology department said it is possible that oxygen tent use could increase red blood cell levels to the same degree as EPO.
In February of this year, Maurice Duquette, a Montreal physician, was accused of offering EPO to Quebec cyclists by the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes. Documents were found at Duquette's office that included the name of a high-level female cyclist.
The disciplinary arm of the Quebec College of Physicians put a publication ban on the names of the people involved with the case.
Through her lawyer, the cyclist involved sought to show the tribunal that her high red blood cell count was due to use of a hypoxic oxygen tent.
Of the 14 riders from various countries who were randomly tested Saturday, Jeanson was the only one declared unfit to compete. She was removed from competition for 15 days.
"Geneviève was in shock," team manager Yvon Waddell said of the star cyclist's reaction when informed of the test results just hours before her main event.
"I was with her, and I was in shock myself," Waddell said. "She was crying. She was totally out of control."
Some riders, known to the world body, have naturally elevated hematocrit levels and are thereafter provided with certificates excepting them from sanctions.
"It is very important to stress that this is not a positive doping test but rather a situation where a rider has been declared unfit to ride," said Bill Kinash, president of the CCA.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) does not publicly announce findings of laboratory tests. The union informs the rider and the association in the rider's country.
If the test is positive, the home association has one month to decide on what sanction should be imposed on its rider.
It informs the UCI, and the UCI then has one month to agree or disagree with the extent of the sanction. If the UCI is in disagreement, the case goes to the Court of Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne to be resolved.
Jeanson rose to prominence on the international cycling scene in 1999 when she won the world junior road race and time-trial titles. She was 11th in the women's road race at the 2000 Olympics. She won a World Cup race in Montreal in May and the Canadian championship on this same course in June.
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