Hamilton Says He’s Innocent of Blood Doping

REGENSDORF, Switzerland – Olympic cycling champion Tyler Hamilton declared his innocence yesterday while awaiting results of backup tests for possible blood doping that could cost him the gold medal.“I have always been an honest person. I am devastated to be here tonight. My family is devastated. My team is devastated. My friends are devastated,” Hamilton said, adding that he would “fight this until I don’t have a euro left in my pocket.”Tests at the Athens Olympics on August 19 and at the Spanish Vuelta on September 11 showed evidence of blood from another person, cycling’s governing body said, according to a spokesman for Hamilton’s team, Phonak.Follow-up tests were started yesterday and will be finished today, although it isn’t clear when the results will be announced.If found guilty of a violation at the Olympics, Hamilton would lose his gold.“I am 100 percent innocent,” Hamilton said. “I worked hard for that gold medal, and it isn’t going anywhere.”Hamilton already was considered one of the world’s top cyclists before winning the time-trial race in Athens. He finished fourth in the 2003 Tour de France despite riding most of the way with a broken collarbone; he pulled out midway through the 2004 Tour because of a back injury.He said he didn’t find out about the result of the Olympic test until Saturday and learned about the other September 16 – the day he pulled out of the Vuelta, citing stomach problems. He acknowledged yesterday that that move was partly because of the blood test.Cycling’s governing body, UCI, used a new blood-screening machine in the tests that detects blood transfusions, human growth hormone, and synthetic hemoglobin. Until now, there has been no foolproof test for detecting blood transfusions.Andy Rihs, chairman of the board of Phonak, said he didn’t trust the new methods.“I don’t believe in the test,” Rihs said. “I think this test was done sloppily and I am pretty clear that whatever the test comes out tomorrow, I stand behind Tyler.”Former world champion Oscar Camenzind was fired by Phonak and retired from the sport after testing positive for EPO shortly before the Olympics. At the time, team manager Urs Freuler said any rider that tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance would be dismissed.“I don’t fire innocent people,” Rihs said. “For me, Tyler is innocent as long as no one proves the contrary.”Hamilton denied ever receiving a transfusion – which can boost an athlete’s performance by increasing the amount of oxygen-transporting red blood cells in his system.IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said, “As with all doping procedures, while a process is underway, we can’t go into details.”USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia said the IOC had not said anything to his organization about Hamilton’s medal. He said he was waiting to see the results of the tests Hamilton was taking yesterday.“We’re not in a position to take a position. We hope for the best with this, as we do with any athlete,” Bisceglia said.Hamilton’s gold was one of four medals won by American cyclists at the Athens Games – the team’s best showing since winning nine at the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Hamilton was the only American cyclist to win a gold medal in Athens, and he called that victory “the highlight of my career, by far.”Hamilton’s father said from the family’s home in Marblehead, Mass., that he and his wife Lorna spoke to their son by phone Tuesday.“They’ve tried to bring down Lance Armstrong for years, and now they’re trying to bring down Tyler,” Bill Hamilton said. “I think it’s a witch hunt. It will be proven, mark my words, that this is totally bogus.”If Hamilton is disqualified, the gold medal would go to Russia’s Viatcheslav Ekimov.

Hamilton Says He’s Innocent of Blood Doping

Hamilton Says He’s Innocent of Blood Doping

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