The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the Russian javelin thrower Lada Chernova and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and sanctioned the athlete with a lifetime ban.
In 2008, Ms Chernova was suspended from competition for two years following an adverse analytical finding for an anabolic steroid. After resuming her career she was tested by RUSADA during a competition in February 2012 for which her sample returned an adverse analytical finding for a metabolite of bromantan, a banned stimulant. In June 2012, RUSADA issued a decision imposing a lifetime period of ineligibility on Ms Chernova as a result of her second anti-doping rule violation. However, such decision was annulled on appeal by the Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration for Sport of the Russian Federation (CCCAS).
On 13 March 2013, WADA filed an appeal at the CAS against the CCCAS decision, requesting that such decision be set aside and that the athlete be sanctioned with a lifetime ban. RUSADA supported WADA’s prayers for relief. The athlete did not file an answer or otherwise participate in the procedure.
On the basis of the written submissions of WADA and RUSADA, and the athlete’s submissions as summarised in the challenged decision, the CAS Panel in charge of the case found that the athlete had committed a second anti-doping rule violation and that the appropriate sanction was that of a lifetime ban.
