(follow-up here: family not happy)
One time European woman's 1500 champion Süreyya Ayhan protested positive doping tests from September, blaming sabotage for the results. However, she could not explain away the credit card receipts for the juice, leaving a paper trail. Story in the Turkish Daily News:
Turkish middle-distance athlete Süreyya Ayhan Kop, a former European 1500-meter champion and a world championships runner-up, may find herself permanently banished from the track after she tested positive for banned substances, her second doping scandal in three years.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials have found two banned substances in urine samples the 29-year-old athlete provided in September while training in the United States for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Anatolia news agency reported.
International rules call for a life-long ban against the athlete, who was already handed a two-year ban in 2005 for violating anti-doping rules, it said.
Süreyya was previously suspended for two years for obstructing a doping test in 2004 before the Athens Olympics, although the IAAF cleared her of actually doping.
She has always denied using banned substances. However this latest controversy seems likely to cast doubt on her integrity as well as the remainder of her career.
How about casting 'doubt' about integrity over her entire career. Here is what the middle distance runner claimed:
In a written statement to the Anatolia news agency from the United States, Süreyya confirmed that her tests had come back positive, but claimed that she had been the victim of foul play by those who did not want her to run in Beijing.
"No athlete in her right mind would take banned substances just a year away from competing," she said. "Someone must have added the substances to my food or drink when I was not careful. Me and my husband are being treated unfairly, but we are at ease in our minds."
Appears Ayhan is not in her right mind. From Sabah:
Süreyya Ayhan had told that "athletics federation put pills in my meal" when she was detected to have doping pills. However, it turned out that she bought the doping pills with credit card, which gave her away...As it was detected that her husband bought the doping pills with credit card, the international doping center took action. WADA authorities organized an uninformed examination for doping use. The sample taken on 18 September 2007 gave positive results. The couple asked for a B sample and the sample taken in Canada also gave positive results.
Ayhan's husband was once her trainer. Although he was married with children at the time, Ayhan engaged in an affair with her coach, creating a national crisis.
Let's give credit where credit is due: You're busted Sureyya. What's in your wallet?
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