Sport-Four Georgian athletes get doping bans as CAS quashes 'spiked drinks' defence
A view of the Court of Arbitration for Sport logo in Lausanne, Switzerland, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Weightlifter Revaz Davitadze and wrestler Nika Kentchadze were among four Georgian athletes handed four-year suspensions after the Court of Arbitration for Sport disagreed with a civil court ruling that they tested positive for a banned substance after their drinks were spiked.
Davitadze, who won a silver medal at the 2024 world weightlifting championships, and Kentchadze, a bronze medallist in the 2021 world wrestling championships, tested positive for the prohibited substance ostarine in 2023.
The Georgian Anti-Doping Agency (GADA) and WADA suspended them for four years, but a Georgian civil court ruled in June 2024 that a person had added ostarine to their drinking water. GADA's disciplinary committee later annulled their suspensions.
WADA and the International Weightlifting Federation appealed to CAS against GADA and the athletes, looking to reinstate their four-year suspensions.
"The CAS arbitrator... found that the Tbilisi City Court Judgement lacked the factual investigation necessary to support the sabotage theory and was contradicted by scientific evidence," CAS said in a statement on Wednesday.
The athletes' four-year period of ineligibility will begin from September 30, with credit for provisional suspensions served.
