Montgomery, Gaines banned

American sprinters Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines, two of the most prominent clients of the notorious BALCO supplement laboratory, were suspended from competition for two years yesterday for using banned drugs.

Even though neither athlete tested positive, the independent Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that there was ''strong, indeed uncontroverted evidence of doping," most notably the use of THG, the previously undetectable steroid known as ''the clear."

While the court relied heavily on documents from the US Anti-Doping Agency, the most damning evidence was provided by American sprinter Kelli White, who said both Montgomery and Gaines told her that they were using illegal substances.

White, a fellow BALCO client, was banned for two years before the 2004 Athens Olympics after admitting to doping, losing both of her gold medals from the 2003 World Track and Field Championships and having her results since December 2000 nullified. Her testimony in this case, the court said, was ''fatal," particularly since Montgomery and Gaines declined to attend the hearing.

White, who obtained THG, blood-boosting Erythropoietin, and the stimulant Modafinil from BALCO, said that she had talked with Montgomery in 2001 about his use of THG and that Gaines, her training partner for several years, also told White that she had used drugs. White's testimony was ''credible and sufficient," according to the court.

Since the ban is retroactive to June 6, both athletes will be eligible for the 2007 global meet in Japan and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Gaines, a two-time Olympic relay medalist, will have her results since Nov. 30, 2003, negated. Montgomery, whose doping history apparently goes back more than four years, will pay a decidedly heavier price.

Besides losing his gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay and his silver in the 100 from the 2001 World Championships, Montgomery will forfeit all of his results and prize money since March 31, 2001, as well as the world record of 9.78 in the 100 that he set in 2002, which was broken in June by Jamaica's Asafa Powell (9.77).

Steve Riddick, Montgomery's coach, said, ''His exact words were: 'This does not make sense. Please explain it to me.' "

Until recently, doped athletes who found ways to beat testing through shrewd timing or the use of masking agents were able to escape detection and punishment. That changed with the acceptance of the ''non-analytical positive," in which drug use is documented by eyewitness accounts, legal papers, e-mails, and the athletes' own training logs.

''We now have driven the stake through the heart of the argument that you have to have an analytical positive in order to have a doping infraction, or a confession," said World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound, an International Olympic Committee member and former Olympic swimmer for Canada.

Both Montgomery and Gaines testified two years ago before a federal grand jury investigating BALCO, the San Francisco laboratory whose founder, Victor Conte, is serving a four-month prison term for distributing banned drugs. The USADA, which had asked for a four-year suspension for the athletes, provided the sports court with results from blood and urine tests indicating that Montgomery had been doped multiple times.

''It is always a great day for clean athletes when individuals who cheat are held accountable and stripped of the rewards gained through doping," said USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden. ''The unfortunate part of this BALCO chapter is that these two athletes knew they were guilty of doping and they wasted everyone's time and resources attempting to run from the consequences of their actions."

Material from wire services was used in this report.