Seemingly undeterred by the decision handed down on Monday by the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where Tyler Hamilton was found guilty of a doping infraction via homologous blood transfusion, the 34 year-old has vowed to clear his name at whatever cost.
"While I am obviously disappointed with the ruling, the fight will continue," wrote Hamilton on his website, www.tylerhamilton.com. "This is not just a battle to clear my name, but also a mission to improve the way athletes of all sports are tested and the manner in which they are treated should they find themselves charged with an offense."
The resident of Boulder, Colorado, holds much hope on the split 2-1 decision, in particular the opinion of one of the arbitrators, Christopher L. Campbell, who said WADA's [World Anti-Doping Agency] inability to calculate the rate of false positives in the blood test "failed to meet the prevailing standards of the scientific community. In this case, USADA should not be able to sustain its initial burden of proof and the case against Mr. Hamilton should be dismissed," Campbell wrote
Panelist Campbell also found the behaviour of high-ranking officials at WADA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as unsatisfactory: "Athletes should not have to worry that high-ranking officials are sending clear messages to the arbitrators to find the athlete guilty regardless of the facts of the case," he wrote. "The IOC and WADA should consider making rules prohibiting such conduct to comply with a very important fundamental principle of the Olympic movement, fairness."
"We know we made sound arguments in our case and someone heard us," wrote Hamilton.
The full transcript of the decision can be found at: www.usantidoping.org.
