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Botswana's Montsho handed a two year-ban from athletics

Xinhua, March 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Botswana's former world 400m champion Amantle Montsho has been handed a two-year ban after she tested positive for a banned substance during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games champion and 2011 world champion tested positive for a banned substance methylhexaneamine at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July 2014 where she failed to make it to the podium after finishing fourth in the final.

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) president Moses Bantsi said Tuesday a committee who had probed into the athlete's doping accusations delivered their verdict at the end of February following six months of investigations. The decision was forwarded to athletics' world governing body IAAF for review and probable approval.

The matter was initially handled by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and after Montsho accepted the findings, it reached the IAAF, which referred it to the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) for appropriate sanction.

The CGF had found Montsho guilty of violating the anti-doping code. She later requested to open her B sample which also turned out positive prompting an immediate suspension from all athletics activities.

At 31 years, Montsho had already passed her prime and the ban might mean an abrupt end to her athletics career. The athlete holds a hero status back in the Southern African country where she became the first world championship winner. At her prime a few years back, she won the IAAF diamond league back to back. Endi