Botswana athlete faces ban over drugs

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Former 400m world champion Amantle Montsho faces a two-year ban after her B sample drugs test from the Commonwealth Games came back positive. Montsho, 31, had been provisionally suspended after her A sample failed a doping test following the 400m final. The Botswana athlete, who finished fourth, has until 22 August to appeal to the Commonwealth Games Federation. The CGF has passed its results to the relevant international federations so a decision on a ban can be made. Mike Hooper, chief executive of the CGF, said:
 “The athlete has been notified of the findings and has the right to respond until Friday, August 22.” The CGF only has power to disqualify Montsho from the Games following her positive test for banned stimulant methylhexaneamine. However, if found guilty at her hearing, Montsho will be referred to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and other relevant authorities for further sanctions.

 Hooper said: “In the case of the Sri Lankan gold medal boxer Manju Wanniarachchi, who failed a drugs test in Delhi 2010, in accordance with our Anti-Doping Standards, Wada and the International Boxing Federation were notified of his positive test and he was banned for two years.” Montsho won Commonwealth gold at Delhi 2010 and the world title in 2011. Her gold medals at Delhi and Daegu were her country’s first at a Commonwealth Games and World Championships respectively, and she also won silver at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, losing out to Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu in a dramatic photo-finish. Montsho told the BBC earlier this year that she would quit athletics after the Rio 2016 Olympics and was aiming to become a basketball player.

 She is the second athlete to have failed a drugs test at Glasgow 2014. Nigerian weightlifter Chika Amalaha, 16, was stripped of her gold medal after her A and B samples tested positive for banned substances. The samples contained amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide, which are both prohibited as diuretics and masking agents.