Swimming: Encouragement for Bray from UK drug ruling

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Trent Bray is looking to another day in court as his battle to clear his name after returning a positive sample to the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone continues.

Yesterday's decision by UK Athletics to clear Commonwealth Games 400m silver medallist Mark Richardson for the same offence has provided some encouragement, but it won't see him change tack in his challenge to the findings of the New Zealand Sport Drug Agency and subsequent court decisions.

By the end of the week Bray's lawyer Peter Thorp will apply to the Court of Appeal seeking leave to appeal the High Court decision that overturned a District Court ruling that the testing procedures used in Bray's case were out of order.

"Nothing has changed," Thorp said. "Our efforts all along have been to challenge the testing procedures. The High Court said the District Court had got it wrong in quashing the Drug Agency's case. "Our principle concern has been in the manner in which the tests were conducted. But in the light of these latest findings we have to take another look at things."

Richardson was yesterday given clearance to return to competition after a report from a working party, headed by Aberdeen professor Ron Maughan, concluded that a combination of dietary supplements and exercise could produce excessive levels of nandrolone.

But an International Amateur Athletic Federation spokesman Giorgio Reineri was non-committal.

"I think there is nothing new [in the findings in the Richardson case]," he said yesterday. "The results will be given to the research group of the IAAF."

A number of top sportsmen and women, including Linford Christie, Merlene Ottey, Dieter Baumann and Petr Korda, have in recent years tested positive to nandrolone.

Thorp said Bray had listed three substances - deer velvet, multi-vitamins and Panadol - as dietary supplements he had taken in the week before his November 22 test.

"He had them all tested individually and none showed any signs of nandrolone."

"But this study has shown that it is possible, otherwise innocent substances can, with heavy exercise, produce the same metalobites as found in nandrolone."

Drug agency boss Graeme Steel said the report that "unknown substances plus exercise" might produce such results was "pretty skimpy stuff at this stage" and it did not mean every positive nandrolone test would be exonerated.

"We will have to wait and see.

"Ultimately this may prove to be valid research. But our board has adopted the schedule [basically the list of the International Olympic Committee's banned substances] and I could not present a case [to remove nandrolone] on grounds of a media report."

He said around 340 nandrolone positives were returned worldwide last year and only a very small percentage were protested.

"If Trent Bray is genuinely innocent of having taken a supplement which produced this result, I'm the last one who would want to see him banned.

"We don't want an innocent athlete caught but the agency must do its work without fear or favour."

Bray agreed that hard work and dietary supplements do not produce nandrolone, rather the metalobites found in it.

But taking encouragement from the UK result he was setting his sights on winning back a place in the New Zealand surf lifesaving team this summer.

He will not return to international pool competition but is keen to return to domestic competition "to push the youngsters along."

Swimming New Zealand chairman Phil Pritchard said he expected the sport's governing body Fina and the IOC to consider these latest findings.

"Like everyone, we will review the evidence."

"We haven't banned Trent. That was done by Fina and will remain in place until there is a satisfactory challenge."