By Duncan Mackay

Charline Van Snick today denied at a press conference in Brussels that she had ever taken cocaineOctober 29 - Belgium's Olympic judo bronze medalist Charline Van Snick has denied that she took cocaine, the substance she tested for at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in August.


The Belgian brought along a toxicologist to argue her point at a press conference in Brussels today, claiming she had never taken the illegal class-A drug voluntarily.

"Charline is not a cocaine user," Jan Tytgat, a professor of toxicology and pharmacology at the University of Leuven.

"All the analysis suggested that she was exposed in an isolated and involuntary way to this product."

Charline Van Snick, second right, with the bronze medal she won at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro but which is now in danger after a positive drugs test for cocaineCharline Van Snick, second right, with the bronze medal she won at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro but which is now in danger after a positive test for cocaine

Van Snick, who could be banned for up to two years if found guilty of doping, added: "I don't understand what's happened to me, I've never taken cocaine.

"I've always tested negative in my previous tournaments.

"I went to Brazil to win a medal so I knew I would be tested.

"Everyone who knows me knows that I could never have done something like this."

The 23-year-old from Liege, who also won bronze in the under 48 kilogram category in Rio just as she had done at London 2012, is waiting for the results from her B-sample.

Tytgat claimed that two hair samples showed Van Snick had not taken cocaine between June 2011 and August 2013 but that a trace of the drug showed up for the period August 10 to October 10, although that was 200 times smaller than for a regular cocaine user.

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