October 24, 2006 – Agence France Press has reported that Jeannie Longo, the 47-year-old French, female cyclist with over 900 track and road victories, recently won a legal victory against the French daily, Aujourd’hui.

In 2004, during the Olympic Games in Athens, Longo’s website advocated the use of creatine. The newspaper then published an article entitled “When Jeannie Longo advocates banned substances.”

Creatine, a naturally-occurring organic acid that supplies energy to muscles, is taken as a supplement by some athletes based on evidence that it enhances performance. While not for sale in France and Germany, creatine is absent from the Olympic Games list of banned substances. An October 5 the appeals court ruled in Longo’s favour and awarded the cyclist 15,000 Euros in damages and that Aujourd’hui must publish the verdict as compensation for the defamation of her name.

This is an early birthday present for Longo who will celebrate her 48th birthday on October 31. Longo has competed in Olympic Games over a 20-year period between 1984 and 2004, winning gold at the 1996 road race, among other medals.