Australian track and field star Peter Bol placed fourth in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics and was a silver medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. His career was unfairly put at risk when he was falsely accused of doping after the results of his A sample test were leaked.
With the assistance of Global Sports Advocates, Mr. Bol had his provisional suspension lifted in February 2023 after showing his B sample results did not confirm the A sample result of a positive test for synthetic EPO.
Now, Sport Integrity Australia’s mishandling of Mr. Bol’s case must be rectified.
- It was wrong to conclude that Mr. Bol's urine sample provided on October 11, 2022, contained Erythropoietin Receptor Agonists (ERA): rEPO.
- It was wrong to conclude that "the testing of both A and B samples complied with relevant International Standards, as published by WADA."
- It was wrong to keep an investigation open when there is no evidence whatsoever that Mr. Bol ever used synthetic EPO.
Mr. Bol's urine sample never showed the presence of any synthetic EPO. The inexperience and incompetence at the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory (ASDTL) led to an incorrect determination regarding his urine sample.
Mr. Bol is innocent and always has been. Sport Integrity Australia must publicly end the "investigation" that remains "ongoing" and acknowledge that Mr. Bol has done nothing wrong. There is no evidence showing that Mr. Bol has ever in his life purchased, researched, possessed, administered, or used synthetic EPO or any other Prohibited Substance.
[Related: Peter Bol Bombshell as Testers' 'Blunder of Epic Proportions' Revealed]
Sport Integrity Australia has an affirmative duty to publicly acknowledge the catastrophic blunders that have been made in Mr. Bol's case and immediately exonerate him since the rules mandate that anti-doping authorities like Sport Integrity Australia be held to the same strict standards as athletes.
As the Quigley case famously held more than 25 years ago, "[t]he fight against doping is arduous, and it may require strict rules. But the rule-makers and the rule-appliers must begin by being strict with themselves."
Here, being strict with itself requires that Sport Integrity Australia undo the damage that it has done to Peter Bol by publicly ending its "ongoing investigation" and admitting it has no evidence he has ever in his life purchased, researched, possessed, administered, or used synthetic EPO or any other Prohibited Substance.
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