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Botswana's Montsho racing against time to appeal ban from athletics

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former women 400m world champion Amantle Montsho is racing against time to appeal a two-year ban imposed on her after she tested positive for a banned stimulant, her attorney revealed on Wednesday.

A local investigative board slapped the 2011 World Champion with a two-year ban from athletics after she tested positive for a banned stimulant, methylhexaneamine at the July 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The athlete is now left with only two weeks to lodge an appeal with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), failure which she would have accepted the ban.

The runner's attorney Tshiamo Rantao told the local media it would cost Montsho 20,000 U.S. dollars (about 200,000 pula) to appeal to the Court of Sport Arbitration (CSA) based in Zurich, Switzerland.

The attorney said her client is still trying to raise enough money to go ahead with the appeal even though they are running out of time. He said they felt that injustice was done when giving the athlete with the maximum sentence of two years and were hopeful that the sentence may be reduced if they appeal.

"It was a bit too harsh in law of sport," he was quoted saying by local Mmegi newspaper.

It has since been revealed that Montsho has managed to identify the supplement she consumed that contained the banned substance. Rantao said investigations by the athlete revealed that she consumed an intra workout recovery drink bought from a local pharmacy she has been getting products from while in Botswana.

He said the athlete satisfied herself that the supplement did not contain any banned substance as she even checked on the Internet. "It is possible that it was contaminated. According to the ingredients, it did not contain any banned substance, but when it was sent to the lab, it was discovered it actually did."

Rantao said according to the World Anti-Doping Rules, the mandatory two-year sentence is imposed when it is proved that an athlete deliberately or knowingly took a banned substance and that the intention was to enhance performance. Montsho remains the Southern African countr's most decorated athlete having won several diamond leagues in addition to the Commonwealth Games gold in 2010 and the world championship. Endi