Belgian judoka Van Snick wins appeal against 2-year doping ban but loses worlds bronze medal

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Belgian judoka Charline van Snick won her appeal against a two-year doping ban but was stripped of her bronze medal from the 2013 world championships by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday.

Van Snick tested positive for banned cocaine metabolites after winning a bronze medal in the under-48 kilogram class at the worlds in Rio de Janeiro last August. The International Judo Federation banned her for two years and disqualified her worlds results, but Van Snick appealed to CAS, saying she was the victim of sabotage.

CAS agreed, noting Van Snick’s complaint of harassment against a member of her entourage and, since the positive test, an ongoing investigation of a criminal complaint.

CAS said Van Snick was not a cocaine user, and upheld her appeal because “the scenario of sabotage by a malicious third party was … the most likely scenario.”

However, her disqualification at the worlds stood because there was a doping violation.

Van Snick also won bronze at the London Olympics.