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Hamilton '100% innocent'
22/09/2004 08:56 - (SA)
Zurich - American cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who won the Olympic time trial gold medal last month, said he was totally innocent of the charge of blood doping after it was revealed on Tuesday he had become the first athlete to test positive for it.
The 33-year-old faces a two year ban after testing positive after winning the Tour of Spain's eighth stage time trial on September 11 and he pulled out of the Tour six days later apparently due to stomach problems.
Hamilton's Swiss Phonak team confirmed the positive result and news of the second sample is expected within 48 hours.
However Hamilton insisted he was innocent at a hastily assembled press conference at the town of Regensdorf near here.
"This affair has been like a thunderbolt," admitted the American star, who had dedicated his Tour of Spain stage triumph to the victims of the September 11 terror attacks which took place three years ago.
"I am absolutely devastated to have to be here this evening as are my family, my friends and team-mates.
"But I can assure you of one thing I am 100% innocent.
"I am not going to risk my life and that of my wife with a blood transfusion, there must have been some form of mistake," he added.
Hamilton said that he would never dope and if he felt he had to he would prefer to retire.
"I am accused of taking someone else's blood, but anybody who knows me would accept that I would never do such a thing.
"I know what I put into my body and what I don't. Cycling is very important for me but not everything. If was to think I had to do something like that I would rather put my bike away," he insisted.
Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), declared himself satisfied with the news.
"If it stays positive, then it will the first ever case of this form of doping being detected," he said in Montreal where he was attending Wada's executive committee meeting.
Phonak sporting director Alvaro Pino said he was confident about Hamilton's innocence. Live on Spanish television while driving a car during the 16th stage of the Tour of Spain, Pino said: "Last night (Monday), he (Hamilton) said 'you can sleep soundly.'
"I believe him. He is an intelligent guy who would not take the risk of having a blood transfusion. The test result is not yet conclusive. I can't tell you any more."
- AFP
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