Another hurdle for Latvian bobsled captain

The Olympic dreams of the captain of the Latvian bobsled team have hit another speed barrier.

Just as it looked as though Sandis Prusis would be allowed to take part after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone, the International Olympic Committee deemed him ineligible to compete in the Winter Olympic Games to start in Salt Lake City on Feb. 9.

Prusis and the Latvian Olympic Committee have filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A final decision on whether he would be allowed to compete had not been reached as The Baltic Times went to press.

Many in the winter sports community expressed surprise last month at the International Bobsled Federation's three-month suspension of Prusis, thinking it a slap on the wrist and speculating it would set a bad precedent for future rulings.

The International Olympic Committee also expressed surprise. Its director general, Francois Carrard, declared Prusis ineligible to compete at the games despite the IBF's ruling.

Carrard said that allowing Prusis to take part would send out the wrong message. He defended the IOC's decision to ban him, saying the IBF had "carved out" his suspension to allow him to compete in the Olympics.

He further noted that the IOC's executive board had the power to ban anyone from competing.

Last month the IBF suspended Prusis for testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone, and it was believed that he would not be allowed to go to the Olympics.

However, after an appeal of the ruling by the Latvian Bobsled Federation, the IBF levied the most lenient punishment possible on Latvia's foremost bobsled pilot - a three-month suspension retroactive to Nov. 9. This meant Prusis would be eligible to compete in the Olympic bobsledding competition, which starts Feb. 16.

The Latvian Bobsled Federation claimed that dietary supplements Prusis had unwittingly taken were responsible for the positive drug tests. The IBF agreed, blaming third-party negligence.

The IBF ruling prompted the Latvian Olympic Committee to fire team doctor Romans Ostapenko.

Last week, the IOC deemed American bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic, a brakeman for the U.S.A.'s top sled, ineligible for having traces of the muscle-building steroid 19-norandrostenedione. Like Prusis, he is instrumental to his team's success and claims he ingested the steroid unwittingly.

Jovanovic is scheduled to appeal his suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Feb. 6.