Australian swimmer banned from Commonwealth Games

SYDNEY - Australian swimmer Ryan Napoleon was banned from taking part in the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games Thursday after he failed a dope test.

World swimming body FINA imposed a three-month ban on Napoleon for unknowingly taking a banned substance called formoterol Nov 16 last year.

“Napoleon has taken the asthma medication Pulmicort for most of his life. However, on this occasion a Pulmicort inhaler was wrongly labelled by a pharmacist and was actually Symbicort, which contains Formoterol,” Swimming Australia was quoted as saying in a statement by the Sydney Morning Herald Thursday.

FINA also accepted that an innocent mistake was made by the 20-year-old but the swimmer should have been aware of what medicine he is taking.

“It is clear that the swimmer had no intention of enhancing his sports performances. The doping panel underlines the responsibility of the athlete to check his medicine,” said FINA’s doping panel.

Napoleon had qualified for the 400m and 1500m freestyle and is disappointed that he won’t be able to compete in the Delhi Games.

“It is devastating. It’s extremely disappointing and something that I have been dealing with since April this year when I was first notified that there was an issue,” said Napoleon in a Swimming Australia statement.

“A mistake was made, and the FINA panel accepted that a mistake was made in the hearing, but as an athlete I still understand that I have a responsibility to check all my medication thoroughly.”

“It may not feel like it now, but I know that I will get through this and become a stronger person and athlete because of it,” he said.