Hardy says Cielo deserves expedited doping hearing

Jessica Hardy knows only too well what it’s like for an athlete to have a doping investigation hanging over them ahead of a major championship, so she thinks it’s good for Olympic and world champion Cesar Cielo to have his case heard in Shanghai next week.
Cielo’s case will be heard next ichristianlouboutinboot Wednesday, days before the swimming portion opens at the aquatic world championships, which begin this weekend.
Swimming’s governing body FINA challenged a Brazilian federation decision to give Cielo only a warning after he tested positive in May for furosemide, a banned diuretic, and blamed it on a contaminated batch of a food supplement he regularly used.
Hardy withdrew from the U.S. team ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was later ordered to serve a one-year ban despite the Court of Arbitration for Sport accepting that she was not at fault for a contaminated dietary supplement.
“He deserves a fair trial,” Hardy said Friday at the U.S. swim team’s pre-championship training base on Australia’s Gold Coast. “It’s a fair thing that they have an expedited hearing for him so that he can at least make his case before the world championships.”
Several high-profile athletes have claimed that positive doping cases have been the result of food contamination, including Tour de France champion Alberto Contador. But Hardy said despite the seemingly similar circumstances, each case has to be treated individually.
“There are a lot of differences in our cases,” she said when asked to compare her case with Cielo’s. “The problem that surrounded him initially was that the Brazilian federation didn’t take the appropriate sanctions. At least CAS and FINA have stepped in and I’m grateful that that’s happening.”
With another shot at the Olympics on the radar, Hardy is meticulous with all parts of her preparation.
“From what I went through, I’ve had my eyes opened extremely and learned a lot of stuff that I didn’t know,” she said. “Now I’m aware of a lot more that people aren’t doing. I’m focussing now on what risks there still are. A lot of teams can improve on that.”
Hardy, a multiple world champion and world record-holder in 50- and 100-meter breaststroke, will compete in the 50 breastroke and 50 freestyle and relays at the world championships, which she is using as a springboard for a shot at the 2012 London Olympics.
“I’ve been shooting to make an Olympic team for a long soccer jersey time. I feel like a veteran but I’ve still never been to the Olympics before, which is a humbling thing and a motivating thing,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having this as the last stepping stone before I give next year a good try.”
Cielo, the world and Olympic 50 freestyle champion, could miss the next Olympics if he’s banned for more than six months when CAS hands down its decision by Friday next week.