Athletics boss defends Bol treatment

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has defended the public identification of Australian athlete Peter Bol following his positive drug test, saying it has happened before.

News of Bol’s positive result for synthetic EPO leaked before his B sample had been tested, which returned an “atypical finding” and saw the 800m star’s provisional suspension lifted.

Athletics Australia and Sports Integrity Australia, which is continuing its investigation into Bol, both denied leaking his A sample result, which the 28-year-old’s lawyer Paul Greene had slammed as “a disgrace”.

Speaking in Bathurst ahead of Saturday’s world cross country championships, Coe said he could not comment specifically on Bol’s case due to the ongoing SIA investigation but said “there are some balances” that could lead to an athlete being identified as a suspected drug cheat before their B sample had been tested.

“It’s not that I will evade (questions about Bol) but I don’t know the answers because the integrity unit now has jurisdiction over that,” Coe said.

“And as you know, from the way we’ve treated recent cases, reputation doesn’t count for anything, the size of the federation doesn’t count for anything … we are very clear and the athletics integrity unit has done a very good job.

“There are some balances there, that the Athletics Integrity Unit does on occasion talk about an A sample, simply because of the proximity to a championship and giving complete clarity.”

Bol was banned from the sport on January 10 after his positive test was recorded on October 11 last year.

Athletics Australia chief executive Peter Bromley, who said he would support an investigation into whether someone within the organisation had leaked the test result, said it was “anticipated” questions would be asked about Bol’s absence from the track following his provisional suspension.

We anticipated that his absence from training and published start lists for upcoming events would lead to questions and media reporting, as it did,” Bromley said.

“At all times our primary considerations have been the welfare of Peter Bol, ensuring procedural fairness and abiding by the Australian National Anti-Doping Policy.”