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Jeannie Longo free to compete at London 2012 after being cleared of missed drugs test charges

Former world and Olympic champion escapes sanction after third missed test ruled invalid

Former world and Olympic champion Jeannie Longo has been cleared by the French cycling federation (FFC) in connection with three missed out-of-competition drugs tests. The decision leaves Longo, winner of the Olympic road race at Atlanta in 1996, free to compete at London 2012 next year.

Longo, aged 53 and with some 59 national titles to her name, was found not to have been in breach of rules requiring athletes to disclose their whereabouts for testing purposes as a result of a technicality, reports L’Equipe.

If found guilty, she would have faced a ban of between three months and two years.

The cyclist had been a member of France’s pool of elite athletes who are required to make their whereabouts known since 14 March 2008. At the time, athletes remained part of that pool until they were told otherwise.

However, a rule change introduced on 14 April 2010 meant that athletes now had to be told each year whether they were included in that elite pool.

“As a consequence,” said the FFC in its decision, using her married name, “Mme Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli could not, at the latest, be considered as belonging to the target pool beyond 15 April 2011.”

That meant that the third and final ‘missed’ test on 20 June this year, when US Anti Doping Agency officials failed to locate the cyclist at the hotel she should have been at, was rendered invalid.

It’s the second significant legal victory for the Longo-Ciprelli family in recent weeks; last month, Longo’s husband, Patrice Ciprelli, successfully appealed a ban imposed by the FFC for allegedly buying doping products including EPO via the internet.

Both cases have undermined the reputation of one of France’s most enduring athletes. According to L’Equipe, Longo’s lawyers have filed a criminal complaint against the AFLD as a result of the effect on her image of the publication in the press of the allegations against her.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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rayjay | 12 years ago
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If she can comptete at a high standard and is there because she is good enough to be there then who cares ,i hope she keeps going till shes 60 and beyond

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step-hent | 12 years ago
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Yep, a great job by Longo's lawyers. Though not necessarily a great job for cycling. When will the woman give up? She's an incredible athlete, having had an incredible career - surely it is time to bow out and leave the sport, rather than filing more complaints and dragging the whole thing on longer....

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Simon_MacMichael | 12 years ago
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Well, the important point is that following the change in rules, the AFLD was required to notify her each year that she was still subject to testing, and it didn't.

Irrespective of whether or not she believed she was still in the pool and filed her whereabouts, the fact that she wasn't notified in accordance with the rules meant that as a matter of law she couldn't be subject to the out-of-competition testing regime and therefore, by extension, there could be no missed test.

Now, if there was no third missed test (the previous two having occurred prior to the date of 15 April 2011), then there were no grounds for AFLD bringing disciplinary proceedings against her, with the resultant effect on her public image.

So that, in turn, gives rise to the criminal action - presumably under France's controversial criminal libel laws, which President Sarkozy (no stranger to using them himself) promised to review in 2009, although they remain in force.

I'll say this - whatever she's paying her lawyers, they're worth every last centime.

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Simon E | 12 years ago
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If she had been notified of previous missed tests then surely she was aware of being tested? And if she has supplied the whereabouts information then surely she knows she is on the targeted list.

Quote:

Longo’s lawyers have filed a criminal complaint against the AFLD as a result of the effect on her image of the publication in the press of the allegations against her.

Typical! It should be the other way around, Longo bringing French cycling into disrepute. "Got off on a technicality" is not the same as being innocent.

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