Posted at 6:08 a.m., Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Track and field: Pole vaulter's ban for doping lifted
Associated Press
ROME — Former pole vault world champion Giuseppe Gibilisco's two-year doping ban was lifted today by the Italian athletics federation.Gibilisco had asked for the ban to be overturned and the federation's appeals commission ruled in his favor, FIDAL said on its Web site. It gave no reasons for the decision, saying it would do so next week.
While Gibilisco is now effectively reinstated, the Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor could still take action against him, officials said.
Gibilisco and several other athletes have been linked to a four-year-old doping investigation centering on Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione, who allegedly supplied doping substances.
FIDAL imposed the ban on July 18 after a hearing with Gibilisco. CONI had recommended the maximum two-year ban for "the use or attempted use of a banned substance or method."
Gibilisco, who won the world title in 2003 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2004, was among a growing list of Italian athletes who were suspended for doping without testing positive.
Cyclists Ivan Basso (two years) and Michele Scarponi (18 months) were recently banned for their alleged involvement in the Spanish blood-doping scandal "Operation Puerto" — also without testing positive.
