1) If her blood had anything above a normal reading, she should have the record taken away. If you can't start at your baseline numbers with rules, then where else do you start?
2) I agree with not punishing her anymore than not giving her the record and returning any award money. It is pretty obvious that this was a random mistake and she did not do anything intentional. If anything she was punished by being told not to race until this matter was taken care of. She was obviously in great shape but was not allowed to race in any competitions, so she missed out on other prize money and possible contract bonuses.
3) For the future, some may think this is too harsh of a punishment, not enough or just the right amount, but you don't know what coach/athlete will come along and use certain chemicals purposely to gain an athletic advantage. There are probably 1,000's of ways to illegally boost your performance but if USADA announces when an athlete has tested positive, you are going to make the dopers pursue other drugs to cheat with. Not saying you will ever be able to catch all of the illegal drugs, but if the testing can prove that it can catch trace amounts of a substance, then the dopers may think twice before trying to cheat.
4) Her record should have had an asterisk next to it anyway since she used a rabbit. Using pacers to break the wind is a form of performance enhancement that not everyone is able to have access to. It's one thing when the race unfolds and a runner tucks in behind the leader to break the wind but it's another to put one or two pacers there on purpose. It may be a stretch but what is the difference with this scenario and the Breaking2 hour marathon event?
