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Merlene Ottey
MONACO, (Reuters) -
THE hearing that will determine whether Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey will finish her career at the Sydney Olympics or as a disgraced drug cheat began in secrecy yesterday and could take up to three days to complete.
Ottey, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone last year, was to appear before an International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) arbitration panel at the world governing body's Monaco headquarters in what will be her last chance to clear her name.
But at the last second the venue was switched to a secret location in the principality so the proceedings could be conducted away from the media spotlight.
According to IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri, Ottey, the most decorated athlete in world championship history, accompanied by her agent Daniel Zimmerman, the president of the Jamaican Athletics Federation Adrian Wallace, and an entourage of lawyers, doctors and witnesses arrived at the hearing for the first day of meetings that were expected to last well into the evening.
The hearing will continue today and could stretch into tomorrow.
"The panel heard opening statements and then went through aspects of the case into the afternoon," Reineri said. "In the afternoon they will hear from some witnesses and more witnesses tomorrow.
"If necessary the panel is willing to hear the case until 3 o'clock on Sunday."
Ottey, hoping to compete at her final Olympics in Sydney this year at the age of 40, will plead her case to a three-member panel chaired by Germany's Christoph Vedder, who oversaw Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor's appeal against a positive cocaine test on Wednesday.
The two other members who heard the Sotomayor appeal have been replaced by James Michael Murphy of the United States and Monty Hacker from South Africa.
No decision in either case is expected to be announced at the weekend, the panel having up to 14 days to make its rulings.
As in the Sotomayor hearing, the focus in Ottey's case will be on the testing procedure, with officials from the IOC laboratory which carried out the control expected to testify.
The athletics world was rocked last August when, on the eve of the Seville world championships, it was confirmed that Ottey had tested positive at a meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Ottey, the winner of 34 medals in major international championships, including seven in the Olympics and a record 14 in world championships, has denied ever knowingly taking the drug.
The sprinter was later cleared by the Jamaican Athletics Federation but the IAAF was not satisfied with the decision and decided to refer the case to its arbitration panel.
"It is a case we have to study very carefully," Vedder told Reineri. "It is important for the sport and possible future cases."
Ottey's is the first of a series involving a recent rash of positive tests involving nandrolone to be dealt with by the IAAF.
Olympic 100 metres champion Linford Christie and fellow Britons Doug Walker, Gary Cadogan and Mark Richardson, who all tested positive for nandrolone, are scheduled to have their cases heard by an arbitration panel next month.
In arguing her innocence, Ottey's lawyers are expected to bring up studies that claim dietary supplements are responsible for what has become known as the "nandrolone epidemic".
But the IAAF has already rejected a British proposal to suspend disciplinary action until a study can be carried out to determine whether the over-the-counter supplements many athletes use are responsible for the surge in positive tests.
Under IAAF rules athletes are banned for two years if they are found to have banned performance-enhancing substances, such as steroids, in their bodies. How they got there is irrelevant, according to the rules.
