Campbell
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, CMC:
JAMAICAN FORMER World Indoor champion Juliet Campbell is being promoted to the 200-metre bronze medal position at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor track and field championship, following the disqualification of American gold medallist Michelle Collins.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Friday nullified the performances of American Collins since February 1, 2002, due to doping violations, resulting in upgrades to all the athletes that trailed her in the half-lap sprint.
Campbell had entered the event as the defending champion, having won in Portugal in 2001, and placed fourth in a season's best 22.81 seconds.
She was only 0.01 seconds behind the Russian bronze medallist Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, chasing Collins, Muriel Hurtis (22.54) of France, and Kapachinskaya (22.80) to the finish.
Collins also forfeits her 2003 U.S.A. Indoor title in the event and has been issued an eight-year suspension.
"It is sad for everyone in the sport when an athlete makes the decision to cheat," said USATF CEO Craig Masback.
Allyson Felix, runner-up to Jamaican Veronica Campbell in the women's 200 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has been advanced to becoming the 2003 U.S.A. Indoor 200-metre champion after Collins' demotion.
Collins, 33, was charged with taking drugs designed to elude drug tests and received the ban for doping offences after a hearing at the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
She becomes the first athlete to be suspended without a positive drug test or an admission of drug use.
Collins' ban is a result of her connection to the federal inquiry into the Balco doping scandal.
