Bol: doping suspension lifted after samples didn’t match
FILE - Peter Bol, of Australia, wins a men's 800-meter semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo. Australian Olympic middle-distance runner and 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Peter Bol has tested positive to a banned performance-enhancing drug, according to Athletics Australia on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
SYDNEY (AP) — Olympic 800-meter finalist Peter Bol on Tuesday said his provisional doping suspension has been lifted after the A and B samples didn’t match.
Usually testing of the B sample confirms the original adverse finding in doping cases.
“I was just informed that my B sample did not match my A sample,” Bol posted on Twitter. “My provisional suspension has been lifted by Sport Integrity Australia.”
Sport Integrity Australia later confirmed testing of the B sample by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory showed an atypical finding, but that in itself is not the same as a negative test result.
“The investigation into the matter remains ongoing. Sport Integrity Australia will, as part of its investigation, proceed to consider whether any anti-doping rule violations have been committed,” the government-backed agency said in a statement. “It is not possible to provide a timeframe at this point.”
Bol repeated Tuesday that he’s never taken banned performance-enhancing substances and he described the last month as a “nightmare.”
Athletics Australia announced last month that Bol had failed an out-of-competition test on Oct. 11. The 28-year-old runner’s A sample tested positive to the banned drug erythropoietin, known as EPO.
“The relief I am feeling is hard to describe.” Bol said after the B sample results returned. “The last month has been nothing less than a nightmare. I wish that the results of my A sample had not been leaked, but there is nothing I can do about that.
“To say it one more time: I am innocent and have not taken this substance as I was accused.”
Bol placed fourth in the 800-meter final at the Tokyo Olympics and was a silver medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Richard Ings, the former head of Australia’s anti-doping agency, described the differing results from A and B samples as “exceedingly rare.”
“Questions need asking of the lab and how it processed and assessed the A sample,” “Ings posted on Twitter.
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