ROME - Former figure skating world champion Carolina Kostner was banned for 16 months on Friday for her role in the doping case involving her ex-boyfriend and Olympic race walking gold medallist Alex Schwazer.Kostners lawyer has already said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Im certainly not happy, in fact Im very disheartened and very disappointed, Kostner said. Im determined to go right to the end, right to the last level of justice.The Italian Olympic Committees anti-doping prosecutor had originally recommended that Kostner be banned for four years and three months for helping Schwazer evade a test and other infractions.However, following a change in the World Anti-Doping Agencys code from the beginning of 2015, the prosecutor changed his recommendation at Fridays hearing, requesting a suspension of two years and three months. But the doping court decided on a sanction of one year and four months and a fine of 1,000 euros ($1,150).The ban starts immediately and ends May 15, 2016. It means Kostner, the 2014 Olympic bronze medallist and 2012 world champion, will be eligible for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.She will miss the European championships next January as well as the next worlds, which start March 28, 2016.The 27-year-old Kostner was taking a year off from competition.Kostners hearing was part of a widespread doping inquiry set off when Schwazer tested positive for EPO before the 2012 London Olympics.Schwazer, who won the 50-kilometre walk at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, failed an out-of-competition test before arriving in London and was removed from Italys team before competing. He admitted using the blood-boosting hormone EPO, and said he was quitting the sport.Kostner maintains that she did not know Schwazer doped. However, published reports of Kostners testimony to prosecutors in Bolzano showed she admitted to lying to WADA inspectors who came to her home in Germany looking for Schwazer on July 30, 2012 — days before Schwazer flew to London for the Olympics.Ultimately, the WADA inspectors caught up with Schwazer in Italy and thats when he tested positive.Schwazer has been banned for three and a half years, although he could have that extended by three months, taking his suspension to April 2016. MLB Jerseys From China . They have homered once every 27.3 at bats, which just happens to be the third best mark in the American League, albeit just 10 games into the season. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/. The Toronto Blue Jays general manager made a series of bold moves that reshaped the club ahead of what would turn out to be a disastrous 2013 campaign. MLB Jerseys 2020 Online . With the team he supported as a child on the verge of reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 19 years, Ba instead scored the goal that knocked them out. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China .com) - Lloyd Sam struck in stoppage time on Wednesday as Red Bull New York hung on for a crucial 1-0 win over Atlantic Cup rivals D.NEW YORK, N.Y. - From the moment John Smoltz stood on a chair to place a cap atop 6-foot-10 Randy Johnsons head, it was clear this gathering of baseballs newest Hall of Famers was going to be different than those in past years.I just wanted to be funny, Smoltz said Wednesday at the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Hes 6-10 and he was struggling with his jersey. I was trying to help him with his hat.The always canny Pedro Martinez greeted Craig Biggio with an apology of sorts.Im extremely honoured to be here with all of you. Craig. I know I brushed you back a couple of times. It wasnt intentional, he said.On this day, the fierce competitors were all teammates in jerseys with Hall of Fame in red script stitched across the chest.I still love you, Biggio said. Its OK.There was a lot of love, laughter and admiration among the largest induction class elected by the writers since 1955. Some of the highlights of the nearly hour-long news conference:WHATS A FEW INCHES AMONG FRIENDS?On his connection with former Braves teammates Gregg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who were known for pitching on the corners — sometimes getting a wider strike zone than usual:Everyone kind of assumes the three of us together and links us together, Smoltz said. Everyones feeling is we got 6 inches off the plate. I didnt, by the way. So dont believe that. I didnt. I didnt.Biggio answered Smoltz several minutes later: I agree with John. It wasnt 6 inches off the plate. It was more like 6 to 10.OLD GOATSMartinez on being elected to the Hall, where he visited when he was a young player with the Montreal Expos and had an immediate appreciation of the games history:I couldnt imagine how the game was. I could only wonder, but Im extremely honoured to be going back now, being part of it, being looked at as an old goat. Thats what we all became. We became old goats now. Theyre going to be like, Oh, look, thats Pedro, thats John. That was back then. So we all became old goats after yesterday.FAKING ITSmoltz got some good advice on how to put away batters:I learned it from Tom Glavine who never really showed any emotion, which is the reason why he won 300 games and was a Hall of Famer. I learned if you didnt have what you needed that day, fake it; dont let them know.Johnson had a different take on faking it:For me it was hard to fake. You either saw 95 to 100 (mph) or you didnt. ... The one thing I had going for me is I could throw really hard. I was kind of like that Sports Illustrated story that came out a long time ago (The Curious Case of Sidd Finch from AApril 1, 1985), a kid wearing overalls in a hay field, being able to throw a hundred miles an hour.dddddddddddd That was me. I was like Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham that hit the mascot. I was a combination of all that until it finally came together for me.MEMORABILIAAs an 18-year-old playing for the Dodgers rookie team in Great Falls, Montana, Martinez was called up to pitch for Class A Bakersfield in the playoffs, a little more than 100 miles from Dodger Stadium, where his brother Ramon was pitching. Martinez went to visit his brother and came across a memorabilia auction:As a kid, I remember watching Reggie Jackson. He was the only one that could pimp a homer back in those days. ... Ramons friend goes, You want that ball? Im like, Yeah, I would like to have it. You have the 250 bucks? All I had to do was reach in my pocket, pull it out. I knew it was 250. So I was handing it to the person, Here, buy it.No, no, no. You dont get it that way. You sign your name there. If it happens that nobody bets on it, then you get it. All 250 bucks, 1990, that I made in my last 15 days of work in Montana, I paid for a Reggie Jackson signed ball.Smoltz isnt so nostalgic:Im pretty bad at it, Ill admit. I never really asked for autographs growing up. Im better today, but Ive been known to play catch with my 200th win ball with my son. I dont know where a lot of stuff is.NEW YORK, NEW YORKJohnson made his first start after being traded from the Montreal Expos to the Seattle Mariners in the Bronx on May 30, 1989. It didnt take the University of Southern California pitcher long to meet a fellow Trojan — and baseball Hall of Famer:Tom Seaver is walking behind me as Im going into the clubhouse with my suitcase. I played for the legendary college coach Rod Dedeaux at USC. He called everybody Tiger. ... Its also a calling card that when you hear someone say Tiger to you. You know thats USC alumni baseball. Tom Seaver yelled out, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, you cant be carrying your own bags. Youre pitching today. ... I went on to win that game. But more importantly someone of that stature, who Ive become friends with now since then, the great Tom Seaver, helped me with my suitcase on my pitching day in Yankee Stadium.Johnson ended up pitching for the Yankees from 2005-06, and he got to know several of the teams Hall of Famers:Im good friends with Reggie Jackson. He called me asking: Randy, how did you get more votes to the Hall of Fame than I did? I mean, who does that? Friends do. Reggies the greatest. I love Reggie. ' ' '