LAUSANNE, Switzerland, December 16. ONE of two remaining major arbitration dates for Jessica Hardy has been set. Hardy's representation will appear in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport on March 12, 2010 to fight off an appeal made by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
WADA has appealed Hardy's competition ban reduction from two years down to one made by the American Arbitration Association, the U.S. based arm of CAS. The AAA ruled this past summer that Hardy's positive doping test from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials stemmed from a tainted supplement. Due to the ruling, the AAA cut Hardy's ban in half.
WADA disagreed with the reduction, and is asking for CAS to return Hardy's ban to two years.
Hardy still has one more issue to resolve aside from this meeting, and that is her appeal against the International Olympic Committee's Rule 45. That rule states that any athlete serving a six-month suspension or more for a positive doping test is automatically ineligible to compete in the Olympics following the end of the suspension.