Olympic cycling champion Tyler Hamilton received an eight-year ban from cycling on Tuesday. The U.S Anti-Doping Agency handed the penalty after Hamilton admitted taking an herbal product to fight depression, knowing it include a steroid. The said admission was done two months ago. In an interview last April with The Associated Press, Hamilton said that “there’s nothing to fight about.”

At the age of 38, Hamilton’s eight-year ban is considered as a lifetime ban, according to Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA. It is “an assurance that he is penalized for what would have been the remainder of his competitive cycling career.” This will ultimately end his brilliant career which included a win at the 2004 Olympics.

It was his second doping offense when he also tested positive for homologous blood transfusion in 2004 and served a mandatory two-year suspension even as he disputed the test results through two rounds of arbitration. He long denied blood doping but on the latest positive test, he denied nothing. “I knew it was banned,” Hamilton said. He decided to admit the violation so he can concentrate on the ongoing battle with clinical depression which was diagnosed in 2003. At the time the supplement was bought, Hamilton was in a desperate emotional state triggered when he went off his prescription medication cold turkey. DHEA is included in the list of over-the-counter drug’s ingredients.

He also admitted that he had regrets on the negative impacts the events may have on cycling. He also feels that he has let down his Rock Racing teammates and owner Michael Ball, who offered him a job in 2007 when he was thinking of quitting the sport.

Hamilton is considered as the most accomplished American cyclists of his generation and had spent the first half of his professional career with the U.S Postal Service team and became one of Lance Armstrong’s most valuable support riders. He also led two different European teams, CSC and Phonak. But he established his name as a cyclist when he won the 2004 Olympic gold medal in the time-trial event.

Depression runs in Hamilton’s family and has affected his mother and maternal grandmother, who committed suicide. His older sister, Jennifer Linehan said she also suffers from depression and she suspects that her brother might be susceptible some time before he sought treatment.

Dr. Paul Berger of the Boulder Holistic Medical Center said that he has prescribed medication and treated the cyclist for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety for two years. Hamilton took the prescription Celexa, an antidepressant, for a few years and found that it was effective. But 2008 was an especially challenging year for the cyclist when he split with his wife and his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Hamilton admitted that he doubled the dose and found himself struggling with the side effects.

Last winter, Hamilton trained erratically and spent most of the time with his ailing mother and arrived at Rock’s Southern California training camp in February out of shape. He then decided to buy the Mitamins supplement. He took the supplement for two days before the surprise out-of-competition urine test at the team hotel.

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