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Gert Thys' Lawyer Writes To LetsRun.com As Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Exonerates Thys Los Angeles (July 24, 2009) Since testing positive following his victory in the 2006 Seoul International Marathon, Gert Thys has emphatically and consistently denied taking any banned substances. After delaying his hearing process for nearly 2 ½ years, and in spite of clear laboratory errors, Athletics South Africa suspended Gert Thys for a period of 2 years and 7 ½ months (the exact amount of time it took them to conclude the hearing process), and ruled that Gert Thys was to forfeit his prize money from the 2006 Seoul International Marathon. Gert Thys appealed the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sports arbitral tribunal, and a hearing was held before CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland on May 11, 2009. The CAS Arbitral Tribunal has now completely upheld the appeal of Gert Thys, ruling as follows: 1. It
has jurisdiction to hear the appeal filed by Gert Thys on 7 January 2009.
2.
The appeal of Gert Thys is upheld.
3.
The decision of Athletics South Africa on 11 December 2008 is
set aside.
4.
Gert Thys is exonerated of any doping infraction and is eligible to compete without any prior
reinstatement testing.
5.
The prize money, income and benefits derived from the
participation of Gert Thys in the Seoul Marathon in March 2006 shall not be
forfeited.
6.
The award is pronounced without costs, except for the court
office fee of CHF 500 (five-hundred Swiss Francs) paid by Gert Thys, which is
retained by the CAS.
7.
Athletics South Africa shall pay Gert Thys a contribution
toward his legal fees in the amount of CHF 13,000 (thirteen thousand Swiss
Francs) within 30 (thirty) days of notification of this Award. [Emphasis added]
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