San Antonio-based Olympic marathon runner Liza Hunter-Galvan admitted Friday to using performance-enhancing drugs and said that she accepts a two-year ban from competition.
“There’s not a lot more to say,” Hunter-Galvan said. “It’s an awful mistake and I deeply regret it.”
An attorney working with the 40-year-old mother of four described the sanction as “a two-year ban from all competition, starting on May, 29, 2009.”
Hunter-Galvan, a New Zealand native, said in a statement that she had been clean for her “entire career” until she took the banned substance three times earlier this year, once in February and twice in March.
A statement from Athletics New Zealand said the ban was ordered because Hunter-Galvan tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), a prohibited performance-enhancing substance. The out-of-competition test was conducted on March 23.
As a result of the ban, she said it was her understanding that she won’t be able to run this year or next year in the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon.
“I can’t run, period,” said Hunter-Galvan, who finished second at the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll event last year. “At least, that’s my understanding.”
The ban likely ends any hopes that Hunter-Galvan may have had to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
A San Antonio resident since 1988 when she enrolled in school at UTSA, she ran the marathon for New Zealand in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, finishing 51st and 35th.
Hunter-Galvan said she was almost certain even before the ban that she wouldn’t make another try for the Olympics.
“That was doubtful,” she said. “I’m not getting any younger. I had enough fighting and dealing with trying to make the (New Zealand) team (in the past). It takes its toll.”
In both 2004 and 2008, Hunter-Galvan prevailed in appeals with New Zealand officials to win a spot on the Olympic team.
Scott Newman, chief executive officer of Athletics New Zealand, criticized Hunter-Galvan sharply.
“It is abhorrent to think that a New Zealand athlete would choose this path,” Newman said in a statement, “but it would be naïve to think that some of our athletes are not at times exposed to the temptation of performance-enhancing substances.”
Newman said the ban is a message “that cheats are highly likely to be caught.”
In a telephone interview Friday morning, Hunter-Galvan apologized.
“I’m sorry if I disappointed people,” she said. “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Pointedly asked why she took the drugs, Hunter-Galvan said, “I don’t have a good answer. I was in a bad state of mind at the time and I made a really bad choice.”
She said in a release that officials in Athletics New Zealand had been critical of her performance at Beijing. The exchanges that extended into early 2009 left her “experiencing symptoms of mental anguish.”
Hunter-Galvan identified the drug she took as Recormon.
According to Web sites carrying medical and pharmaceutical information, Recormon contains the active ingredient recombinant human erythropoietin, which stimulates the production of red blood cells.
She said she took it three times, on Feb. 26, March 13 and March 20. She was tested three days later at her home.
The news of Hunter-Galvan’s ban saddened former Olympic swimmer Josh Davis, who had become friends with Hunter-Galvan in the past few years while working with the runner at various civic functions.
“You just have to stay humble, put your head down and keep pressing forward,” Davis said. “Trust that your character and all you’ve done up until that time still counts for something, and what she does from here on out also counts for something. And like I said from the very beginning, she’s my friend, no matter what.”
Running apparel store owner Roger Soler said he was disappointed in Hunter-Galvan’s actions, but added that he also supports her as a friend.
“It’s a little disappointing, but at the same time, friends will show support through all times when things get rough,” he said. “So it’s time for everyone to stick around and still be friends. You can be disappointed and sad at the conduct, not at the person.”
Soler said that while he strongly disapproves of drug use by athletes, he hopes that Hunter-Galvan’s actions will not be judged too harshly.
“I’d like to see somebody raise their hand that they are perfect,” he said. “I don’t see anybody raising their hand right now.”
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