U.S. slider Zach Lund has been banned from competition for one year and will miss the Turin Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld his suspension.
Lund, a leading American hopeful for a medal in skeleton, tested positive for the drug finasteride, which can be used as a masking agent for other drugs.
Lund has denied any wrongdoing, saying the drug was part of a hair-growth treatment he was taking. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had cleared him of any wrongdoing and he was set to compete in the Turin Games.
The World Anti-Doping Agency had appealed the decision and asked for a two-year ban. Friday, the CAS upheld that appeal. In a statement, the CAS acknowledged that Lund had not cheated, but said he did not check the WADA list of banned drugs in 2005 and took a drug on the list.
The CAS said that Lund bears "no significant fault or negligence" and therefore decided to reduce his ban from the mandatory two years to one year.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
