Slaney, 40, is still eligible to compete in IAAF events since she has retroactively completed her two-year ban.
A three-man IAAF arbitration panel said the American runner tested positive for high testosterone levels before the 1996 Olympics. The IAAF imposed-ban on Slaney ran from June 1996, when the test was administered, to June 1998 and included the 1997 world championships.
USA Track and Field CEO Craig Masback refused to comment on the IAAF decision. Slaney has repeatedly said she is innocence of the doping charge and earlier this month, she sued the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee, which administered the original test. She claims the test is unreliable for women in their late 30s or 40swho take birth control pills.
The United States Track and Field Association (USATF) released a statement April 23 saying it supported Slaney's withdrawal from IAAF Arbitration. The statement said the USATF, acting jointly with Slaney, vigorously defended the decision of its hearing board which found Slaney did not commit the offense. "The USATF believes that the board properly exonerated Slaney, and on numerous occasions USATF urged the IAAF to accept that decision. Unfortunately, the IAAF chose instead to challenge the decision," the statement said.
It further said, "The decision to withdraw from participation in the IAAF arbitration was precipitated by a ruling of the IAAF arbitration panel on Jan. 31. In that ruling, the panel decided that all the IAAF had to do to convict Slaney of a doping offense was to prove that her T/E ratio exceeded 6:1; the IAAF panel concluded that the IAAF did not even have to prove that a prohibited substance caused the elevation. USATF believes that the IAAF panel's ruling departs from its own rule that the IAAF has the burden to prove a doping violation beyond a reasonable doubt.
"The IAAF's own experts agreed during the USATF proceedings that an elevated T/E ratio alone was not proof of a doping violation. After handing down this extraordinary decision, the IAAF arbitration panel adjourned the proceedings until April 23.
"The USATF agrees with Slaney that any further participation in these proceedings would be futile. First, based upon current scientific knowledge, reliance solely upon the T/E ratio as "proof" of the prohibited use of testosterone or testosterone precursors by women is inadequate to meet the requirement that doping violations must be established beyond a reasonable
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