'I made a big mistake' - Liza Hunter-Galvan

Olympian Liza Hunter-Galvan has admitted she made "a terrible choice" after receiving a two-year suspension for using a banned performance-enhancing drug.

Speaking from her Texas home last night, Hunter-Galvan, 40, told The Dominion Post she had cut herself off from the outside world and was struggling to explain why she took the banned substance erythropoietin (EPO).

The Athens and Beijing double Olympian marathon runner has admitted taking EPO three times, in February and March this year, the last dose just three days before her positive test on March 23.

Last night, Athletics New Zealand chief executive Scott Newman described Hunter-Galvan's actions as abhorrent. "For whatever reason, some athletes will be tempted and we are extremely disappointed with Liza," he said. "This certainly serves as a reminder that cheats are highly likely to be caught.

"Liza has not only let herself and her sport down, she has let down those who have supported her throughout her career, including some of New Zealand's athletics icons."

Hunter-Galvan told the New Zealand Sports Tribunal she stopped taking the drug, which promotes the growth of red blood cells to improve endurance, because of side effects such as headaches and stomach and chest pains.

Asked yesterday how she was coping, she said: "Oh, not okay. I made a big mistake, I made a terrible choice.

"It's interesting when really bad stuff happens everyone wants a piece of you ... Unfortunately I've made a terrible mistake," she said.

"It [EPO] wasn't something I went looking for. It's just terrible ... I wouldn't say that [it was the people I was training with], no, not really. I don't know."

The mother-of-four admitted she was finding the situation tough emotionally.

"I've pretty much been sticking to myself lately and it's hard to get out. I've just been at home doing lots of work around the house ... I've got four kids, so I've got good distractions ... once this has run its course I'll be a lot better."

She planned to release a thorough statement to "select contacts", which will reveal who had given her the drugs, among other details.

Two years ago Hunter-Galvan revealed she was running for her teenage daughter Amber, who suffered a serious head injury in a car accident and she has vowed to keep running despite the ban.

"I have to. I'll go crazy if I don't. I'm not sure, but I have to get through this, get over it because it's really devastating. It's been really hard on me."

"It's a lot harder to deal with something when you know you have done something wrong."

Hunter-Galvan hit the headlines in the buildup to the Beijing Olympics after challenging her non-selection in the New Zealand team despite reaching the qualifying marks.

She appealed to the Sports Disputes Tribunal and, after a long battle, was reinstated and went on to finish 35th in Beijing.

The saga led to the resignation of national track and field convener of selectors John Bowden.

He said yesterday that it was another sad chapter for Hunter-Galvan and the sport in New Zealand. "I'm pretty sad actually, that's the over-riding emotion that's come through. Disappointed and sad, probably for her and her family and for our sport."

She is still officially the fifth-fastest New Zealand woman over the marathon distance, behind Allison Roe, Lorraine Moller, Mary O'Connor and Marguerite Buist. Hunter-Galvan's suspension begins on May 29, the date of her provisional suspension following the failed B-sample test.

WHAT IS EPO?

* Erythropoietin is a hormone naturally produced by the kidneys. Manufactured versions of it are used by doctors to treat people with a low red-blood-cell count, such as those suffering chronic kidney failure or undergoing cancer treatment.

* It is injected under the skin and stimulates red-blood-cell production, boosting the amount of oxygen delivered to the muscles.

* It delays the onset of fatigue.

* If the artificial hormone is over-used, it can "thicken" the blood to a point where the heart could stop. It increases the risk of blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

- © Fairfax NZ News