Sesil Karatantcheva

[SAFINNO1]

Karatantcheva could be banned

Rising star Sesil Karatantcheva tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone at this year's French Open, it was revealed on Tuesday by french paper l'equipe. The Bulgarian faced a ITF tribunal last week after failing a drug test following her quarter-final defeat to Elena Likhotseva at Roland Garros last June.

The 39th-world-ranked teenager - who eliminated Venus Williams in the third round of the tournament - faces a two-year ban if the tribunal decides to apply the WADA code.

Karatantcheva is QUOTED as saying to a Bulgarian news source "I am shocked. I have not appeared before any ITF judges."

Head of the Bulgarian Federation is QUOTED as saying "We have not received any information, neither from the ITF, nor from the doping commission."
The ITF has yet to make a comment on Karatantcheva's case.

Earlier this year l'Equipe also proclaimed that the men's French Open runner-up Mariano Puerta, and compatriot Mariano Hood failed dope tests at the tournament.

Karatantcheva argues the abnormally high levels were due to the fact she was pregnant at the time, only to later suffer a miscarriage.

Pregnant women - and those using certain forms of contraceptive - are known to naturally produce greater quantities of nandrolone, but in-depth tests of Karatantcheva's urine samples failed to find any evidence she was pregnant.

A decision is expected in January.

[SAFINNO1]

Another l'equipe story what can i say. They should be ashamed of themselves

[Annie]

that is disgusting...I mean she is 16 for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!!!

[luxsword]

well mariano WAS positive, right. bit easy to do a lance armstrong and say that's that french paper blablabla... they're quite a serious paper, actually.
what silly excuses she could find they're not responsible for...
Anyway, we'll no more next year, and if she actually cheated i hope her staff will pay and not just her, cause, like you said, she's only 16, she's a kid. she shouldn't be the only one punished.

[SAFINNO1]

Karatantcheva handed two-year ban

Sesil Karatantcheva has been banned for two years after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs.
The 16-year-old Bulgarian tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at the 2005 French Open and out of competition in Tokyo last July.

An independent tribunal rejected her explanation that she had been pregnant when the test was performed.

The ruling means Karatantcheva loses the £76,000 prize money and ranking points she earned at Roland Garros.

She will also forfeit all world ranking points and prize money from all competitions subsequent to the Paris Grand Slam.

The 16-year-old rose to prominence after knocking out Venus Williams in the third round of this year's French Open.

She lost to Russia's Elena Likhovtseva in the quarter-finals and tested positive after that match.

Karatantcheva, who is ranked as world number 41, has three weeks to appeal to the International Tennis Federation against her ban.

[Annie]

Oh-oh

[lena]

she is 16 and where pregnant

[alsl]

SHE WAS PREGNANT?!?! :owas she?

gosh...dont understand why anyone would

dope..especially at such an age..surely down her

career she will be remembered as 'the girl who doped

at 16'......

[SAFINNO1]

Karatantcheva vows to contest ban

Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatantcheva plans to appeal against a two-year ban for using performance-enhancing drugs.
The verdict was announced on Wednesday after the 16-year-old twice tested positive for banned steroid nandrolone.

"I'm going to appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport," she said.

Karatantcheva has claimed that the high levels of nandrolone in her system were due to a pregnancy, which later ended in miscarriage.

The ITF's independent Anti-Doping Tribunal rejected Karatatcheva's claims but the player's lawyer has high hopes that an appeal would be successful.

"We have very strong evidence, things which were not taken into account at the hearing of the tribunal," said Darina Zinovieva.

"We'll file an appeal as soon as possible, within the three-week deadline."

Karatantcheva promised to return to the sport even if she loses the appeal.

"I'll keep training, I'm only 16. I'll be back, and my return will be thunderous," she told a news conference.

The Bulgarian, who was regarded as one of the sport's rising stars, first provided a positive test at the French Open, where she beat Venus Williams before falling in the fourth round.

The second came in an out-of-competition test two months later in July.

[yse]

In "tennis magazine" they wrote that the pregnant test of Karatantcheva is negative.

[luxsword]

she still intends to use this as a line of defense, though
on tv i saw her speak and she doesn't seem to even think she did anything wrong... it's quite worrying i think...if a 2 year-ban doesn't teach her anything...