The problem of doping in sport is as old as sport. Athletes are willing to try anything that might give them even the slightest advantage. To level the international playing field, the International Olympic Committee and various national sport governing bodies created the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999. The goal of WADA was to create a uniform policy on drugs and uniform penalties for their use.
These policies are not always straightforward. For example, because of the presence of an apparent loophole - athletes who test positive for the first time receive a two-year ban, and therefore may not miss any Olympic competitions - the IOC created IOC Rule 45. Rule 45 states that any athlete with an anti-doping suspension of more than six months is automatically banned from the next Olympic Games following the end of the suspension.
Some people have argued that Rule 45 essentially punishes athletes twice, with the case involving American Olympic athlete LaShawn Merritt, the 400-meter champion at the Beijing Olympics, serving as Exhibit A. In late 2009, Merritt tested positive for a banned substance contained in an over-the-counter male enhancement drug he took. Merritt was banned from competing by WADA for 21 months (the penalty was for less than two years because he cooperated with authorities and was found to not have taken the drug to improve athletic performance), with the hopes of defending his title at the 2012 Olympic Games. The IOC, however, ruled that Merritt would be unable to compete in London because of Rule 45.
Merritt challenged the rule in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court, in ruling that the IOC's application of Rule 45 was invalid and unenforceable, held on Oct. 6 that the additional penalty enforced by the IOC was greater than that allowed under the WADA Code, of which the IOC was a signing party.
Merritt's victory keeps alive his eligibility for 2012, and also impacts as many as 50 other athletes from around the world in track and field alone. The IOC said it "fully respects" the verdict and will comply with it, but added that it would push for Rule 45 to be included in a revised 2013 WADA code.
