Napoleon banned for using incorrect asthma inhaler

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Ryan Napoleon has been suspended from swimming for three months following a positive test for a banned substance after he was given the wrong asthma inhaler, Swimming Australia said on Thursday.

Napoleon will miss the Commonwealth Games in Delhi from Oct. 3-14 because of the ban. He had qualified for the 400 and 1500 metres freestyle events.

Swimming's world governing body FINA imposed the three-month ban following a hearing last week. The ban began on Aug. 20.

Napoleon, who has taken asthma medication for 20 years, was given an incorrectly labelled inhaler by a pharmacist. The inhaler contained the banned substance formoterol, Swimming Australia said.

"A mistake was made, and the FINA panel accepted that a mistake was made in the hearing," Napoleon said in a Swimming Australia statement. "But as an athlete I still understand that I have a responsibility to check all my medication thoroughly.

"It's extremely disappointing and something that I have been dealing with since April this year when I was first notified that there was an issue."

(Writing by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Pritha Sarkar; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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