January 18, 2008	Friday	Muharram 08, 1429

COLORADO SPRINGS (Colorado), Jan 17: Former world wrestling champion Joe Warren will miss the Olympics after an arbitrator upheld the American’s two-year suspension for a second positive test for marijuana.

The decision, announced Tuesday by the US Anti-Doping Agency, will leave the US team without the 2006 world champion in the Greco Roman 59.9-kilogramme (132-pound) division.

The seven-page decision outlined Warren’s argument that a two-year ban, which makes him ineligible for the Olympics, was too harsh a penalty for using a drug that did not enhance his performance.

Warren said he was aware a second positive test would carry a harsh penalty but testified that “it was hard to stop because he needed to use it to help him sleep,” the decision said.

.—AP