Peter Bol officially cleared of doping violation

An Australian Olympian is rejoicing after a lengthy investigation into a false positive drugs test was closed for good.

Australian Olympian Peter Bol has officially been exonerated after Sport Integrity Australia declared it would not progress with an anti-doping rule violation and closed its investigation into his false positive for synthetic EPO.

In January, the 28-year-old was shocked to learn he had returned a positive finding for EPO and was suspended from athletics, throwing his life into chaos.

Bol proclaimed his innocence and a subsequent independent analysis of his B sample returned an atypical finding or a false positive.

Sport Integrity Australia continued to investigate Bol, however, retesting samples before ultimately on Tuesday deciding to close his case, freeing him to compete unfettered a year out from the Paris Olympics.

Bol posted a message on social media on Tuesday morning revealing the good news.

“I have been exonerated. It was a false positive like I have said all along! The news from Sport Integrity Australia today was a dream come true.

#alhamdulillahpic.twitter.com/SDSIT253ws

— Peter Bol OLY (@pbol800) July 31, 2023

“I am glad that WADA has agreed to review the EPO testing process to prevent future false positives. No one should ever experience what I’ve gone through this year.

“My focus now is the world athletics championships coming up in Hungary. I am in good form and feeling well.”

A Sport Integrity Australia statement revealed it had used different laboratories and various experts from the World Anti Doping Authority to analyse Bol’s A and B blood samples.

It found the A sample should have been a negative.

“The further analysis resulted in varying expert opinions as to the positive or negative reporting of the sample, and the A sample was reported as negative,” the SIA statement said.

“As a result, Sport Integrity Australia have taken the decision not to progress an anti-doping rule violation for this sample. The investigation into this sample is finalised.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency acknowledged the announcement from Sport Integrity Australia and vowed to “undertake a review of current EPO processes” after Bol’s nightmare.

“While we have no reason to question the validity of the analytical method used for recombinant EPO, WADA will assess the current review process in light of the particularities of this case,” a WADA statement said.

Bol, who ran fourth in the final of the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics, has returned to running in Europe ahead of the Paris Olympics.