Sprint pair face November court date

The future of sprinters Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines will be decided within the next few weeks after the Court of Arbitration set a date for their drug offence hearings.

Montgomery, the 100m world record holder, and Gaines, a three-time sprint relay world champion, are scheduled to appear at the hearings on November 1 in San Francisco.

Both could face lifetime bans after being charged by the United States Anti-doping Agency with involvement in performance-enhancing drugs, in connection with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO).

The cases will be heard separately by the same three-person arbitration panel.

Gaines’ lawyer, Cameron Myler, told USA Today: “The panel is comprised of individuals who don’t live in the US.

“I think they wanted to bring them over at one time and have both hearings.”

Howard Jacobs, who is representing Montgomery, said: “The reason we went to the CAS is we believe that it’s our best chance of a fair hearing.”

Both sprinters went directly to the CAS – whose decision is final without recourse to appeal – after declining arbitration through the USADA.

BALCO founder Victor Conte and three others face federal charges for steroid trafficking and money laundering.