Austrian triathlete Lisa Huetthaler has been banned for two years by the Law Commission of Austrian National Anti-Doping Agency for failing doping tests, her lawyer Christian Flick confirmed on Thursday.
According to media such as Austrian Television, this ban will be retroactive to Mar. 22 this year, the date of her first failed doping test. The written ban decision will be formally published in a few days.
The 25-year-old Huetthaler is a famous female triathlete in Austria, who has once won the Europe U-23 championship. However, the result of both her A and B samples showed the traces of EPO, a blood-boosting banned substance. Therefore all her matches have been suspended since May this year, but Huetthaler herself has denied of taking any prohibited drugs and said she might appeal against this verdict.
Her lawyer Flick admitted that this verdict made by Austrian National Anti-Doping Agency shows Austria's "zero-tolerance" attitude on doping.
Media report this summer stated that Huetthaler had tried to bribe an employee with 20,000 euro for a negative test result. The World Anti-Doping Agency has informed Austrian government about this and said this action "has been suspected of crime".
(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2008)