AMERICAN ATHLETE LaSHAWN Merritt has seen his ban from competing at the next year’s Olympic Games overturned, possibly paving the way for Britain’s Dwayne Chambers to take part in London as well.
Merritt, a 400m runner, won his appeal against an International Olympic Committee doping rule that bans any athlete that has received a doping ban of more than six months from competing in the next Games.
The 25-year-old was given a two-year sentence – later reduced to 21 months – for failing three tests for a banned steroid in early 2010.
Merritt is the reigning world 400m champion, and the ruling against him was overturned when he brought his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
A British Olympic Association by-law states that a lifetime Olympic ban should be imposed on those that fail doping tests. However, Chambers – who served a positive test for steroids in 2003 – could now use the Merritt ruling as a precedent to get his own case looked at once more.
