Athletics: Krabbe loses her appeal

Katrin Krabbe, the former world sprint champion, has lost her appeal against a ban for doping and will be unable to run until August 1995. An arbitration panel decided that the International Amateur Athletic Federation acted within its rules when in August it banned Krabbe and Grit Breuer and Manuela Derr for two years. The three former East Germans admitted taking Clenbuterol following positive tests on Krabbe and Breuer taken during training in July 1992. A legal loophole in the German athletics federation's rules meant the mandatory four-year ban for a doping offence could not be imposed on the trio, but the IAAF acted under its rules for unsportsmanlike conduct. Yesterday's ruling may not have ended the long dispute between the runners and the authorities as they may take the case to the civil courts.

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