NZ Olympian Gemmell banned for 15 months

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has banned London Olympic triathlete Kris Gemmell for 15 months for an anti-doping violation.

Kris Gemmell.

Triathlete Kris Gemmell has been banned from the sport for 15 months for an anti-doping violation. (AAP)

Former Olympic triathlete Kris Gemmell has been banned from the sport for 15 months for an anti-doping violation, Drug Free Sport NZ says.

DFSNZ chief executive Graeme Steel says Gemmell failed to comply with its athlete whereabouts program, which requires athletes to regularly log details of their location so they can be found for surprise drug testing at any time.

Gemmell missed two tests and filed incorrect information on another occasion within an 18-month period.

The case was dismissed in February by the New Zealand Sports Tribunal, which said the first missed test should not be counted because reasonable steps were not taken to locate Gemmell, such as telephoning him to let him know an official was at his nominated location to test him.

DFSNZ then took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CAS released a judgment on Wednesday banning Gemmell from participating in sport for 15 months for failing to comply with the athlete whereabouts program.

However, because Gemmell's 15-month period of ineligibility is backdated from February 12, 2014, it means he's on the outer for just another five months.

CAS says Gemmell's case isn't one of an athlete deliberately trying to avoid or circumvent the testing regime, and imposed a lesser ban than the two-year maximum due to mitigating circumstances.

Gemmell is on the International Triathlon Union's athletes committee, and is the athletes' representative on the ITU executive board.

He is the ITU's global head of partnerships for the world triathlon series, a 10-race series staged around the world for the sport's elite triathletes.

It's unclear how the ban will affect this area of his involvement in the sport, although Steel said the ban extended beyond the competitive field.

Gemmell, who finished 15th at the 2012 London Olympics, also competed in the 2008 Beijing Games, and the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.

He retired from international competition after the World Cup grand final in Auckland late in 2012.


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