 White claims she took the drug to treat a sleeping disorder |
American sprinter Kelli White could lose the two golds she won at the World Championships after athletics' governing body ruled she committed a doping offence when she failed a drugs test in Paris. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced on Tuesday that the 26-year-old White was guilty of an offence and that it had sent her case to US officials for action.
IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai said White should be disqualified and stripped of the gold medals she won in the 100 and 200 metres at last month's World Championships.
A final ruling could take weeks or months.
The matter now goes to the US Anti-Doping Agency, which must schedule a hearing with White.
If the US body decides not to disqualify White and strip her medals, the IAAF would take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
White, the first American woman to sweep the two sprint events at a World Championships, tested positive for modafinil after winning the 100m on 24 August. She passed a drug test after winning the 200m four days later.
The IAAF gave White until Tuesday to produce documents explaining her use of modafinil. She said she took the medication on prescription from her doctor for the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
"The explanation has been studied and turned down," Gyulai said.
 |  Whatever I have to do to keep (the medals), I will do that |
"The IAAF has reached the conclusion she has committed a doping offense. Our experts have determined the stimulant is performance-enhancing."
Modafinil, which is similar to the banned stimulant ephedrine, is not named on the sport's list of banned drugs, but the IAAF says it falls under the category of "related substances".
White denied taking the medication to enhance performance and said she had "no idea" it contained a banned substance.
But she did not declare modafinil on her doping control form as required or apply for an exemption to use the drug.
Last Wednesday, the IAAF ruled that modafinil was a minor stimulant, carrying a penalty of a public warning and disqualification.
 White won in Brussels last week after being cleared to run |
The decision allowed White to compete in Friday's Golden League meeting in Brussels, where she won the 100m in 10.87 seconds.
Had modafinil - sold in the US under the brand name Provigil - been classified as a stronger stimulant, White would have faced a two-year ban ruling her out of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The IAAF said a decision to strip White's medals was not automatic.
"She is disqualified only at the end of the procedure because further legal issues need to be exhausted," Gyulai said.
"This can only happen after she has been given a hearing by her national federation."
If White loses the medals, the golds would go to fellow American Torri Edwards in the 100m and Russia's Anastasiya Kapachinskaya in the 200m.
White would also lose the $120,000 in prize money she won in Paris.
Under the sport's policy of strict liability, athletes are considered guilty of a violation if banned substances are found in their bodies, whatever the circumstances.
White is scheduled to run in the Grand Prix final in Monaco this weekend and an invitatational meet in Moscow on 20 September.
MMIX
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