Lausanne, Switzerland - Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle will get back the Olympic bronze medal that was stripped from her in a doping case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Thursday.
Sport's highest court upheld her appeal against her disqualification from the 2004 Athens Games by the International Olympic Committee, saying the headache medicine she took did not contain banned substances.
Calle had lost her medal in the women's points race after the IOC executive board ruled she tested positive for a banned stimulant.
"The decision of the IOC executive board... is set aside and the bronze medal of the women's points race remains awarded to" Calle, CAS said in a statement.
The IOC disqualified Calle for taking heptaminol, a prohibited stimulant, which was found in a urine sample taken after the race.
Calle denied ever taking the stimulant. Instead, she claimed to have taken an anti-migraine pill called Neo-Saldina a few hours before the race because she had a headache. She blamed that drug, which was prescribed by a national team doctor, for the heptaminol reading.
CAS said Neo-Saldina contains isometheptene, a substance which transforms into heptaminol during laboratory analyses. The court said isometheptene was not on the list of banned substances for Athens.
Calle became a national hero when she won the bronze, becoming the first Colombian to win an Olympic cycling medal.
American cyclist Erin Mirabella, who finished fourth in the race, was moved up to the bronze after Calle was stripped. - Sapa-AP