Joshua O’Neil, who had won this year’s US judo 66kg championship, lost his appeal not to forfeit his crown and was given a two-year doping ban, the US Anti-Doping Agency announced on Thursday.
O’Neil, an alternate at last year’s Beijing Olympics, was found to have committed a doping violation by the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport panel after testing positive for the banned stimulant Ritalin last April.
The urine sample violation was collected at the US National Championships, where O’Neil captured his first 66kg crown, throwing top seed Jeff Fong for ippon in the final and twice in a fight-off for a world team spot.
Fong later competed at the Worlds after O’Neil, whose best prior US showings were third at 66kg in 2004 and last year, declined the berth in July.
O’Neil, 24, did not contest the laboratory finding to the arbitration panel in his appeal, admitting to taking the banned substance, but sought a reduction in the two-year ban at an appeal hearing.
The US panel ruled that O’Neil did not merit a reduced ban for either specific circumstances or no fault or negligence exceptions because stimulants result in performance benefits and O’Neil was aware of his obligation to remain drug-free.
But O’Neil’s admission of the violation did prompt the panel to rule that his period of ineligiblity would begin from the sample collection date rather than the date of the provisional suspension acceptance.
As a result, his two-year ban will end on April 17, 2011.
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