LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Former steeplechase world champion Norah Jeruto faces a doping case hearing in June, five weeks before the Paris Olympics open.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Wednesday it will hear an appeal by World Athletics on June 17 against a ruling last year that cleared the 2022 world champion of suspected blood doping.
Jeruto had argued that ulcers and a bout of COVID-19 could explain her blood test results in 2020 and 2021 that were later judged to be irregular. She did not test positive for a banned substance.
The Kenya-born Jeruto competed for Kazakhstan when she won gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the worlds in Eugene, Oregon, but could not defend her title last year as she was suspended during an investigation.
The Athletics Integrity Unit implicated the 28-year-old Jeruto in banned blood transfusions and taking the endurance-boosting hormone EPO.
An independent tribunal judging the case said a COVID-19 infection in late 2020 raised “sufficient doubt on this part of the case that it would be unfair to convict (Jeruto).”
An expert witness said internal bleeding from Jeruto’s ulcers could explain why some of her samples indicated she had lost blood, and there was no evidence she received any transfusions.
Jeruto became an African champion while representing Kenya and won on the top-tier Diamond League circuit in 2021. She missed the Tokyo Olympics that year while her change of allegiance to Kazakhstan was processed.
An urgent CAS verdict is likely before the women’s steeplechase is raced at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 6-8 at Stade de France.
AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - Gold medalist Norah Jeruto, of Kazakhstan, poses during a medal ceremony for the women's 3000-meter steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships on July 21, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. Former world champion steeplechase runner Norah Jeruto faces a doping case hearing in June five weeks before the Paris Olympics open. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors announced Monday.
The 75-year-old actor, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, was detained for questioning by police in Paris for several hours earlier Monday. His lawyer, Christian Saint-Palais, later declined to comment to reporters other than to say that the actor was no longer in custody.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the actor has been “summoned to appear before the criminal court” after the questioning.
A trial will start in October “for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021” against “two victims, on the set of the film ‘The Green Shutters,’ ” the statement said. It did not name the alleged victims.
French newspaper Le Parisien has reported that a 53-year-old movie decorator has alleged that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for “Les Volets verts,” or “The Green Shutters,” according to the woman’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, when she filed the complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office in February.
In an open letter last October, Depardieu said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.
In that case, the investigating judge completed his probe on April 17 and transferred the file to the Paris public prosecutor’s office “to review and determine next steps in the proceeding,” the prosecutor's office said Monday.
Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.
The latest episode involving Depardieu came as French cinema is roiled by a #metoo awakening following actor Judith Godrèche’s call for France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse. She made that appeal during a live broadcast in February of the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.
Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France. AP writer John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed.
Reporters wait outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is being questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais returns at the police stations Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais answers a call Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Police officers stand outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
View of the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film 'Saint Amour' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien both reported that the 75-year-old actor was called in for police questioning in Paris on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)
