March 18, 2006: In this photo Australia's Emma Snowsill celebrates after winning the women's triathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. (AP)
SYDNEY – Olympic triathlon champion Emma Snowsill has lost her appeal against her exclusion from the Australian Olympic team and has conceded she will not defend her title in London.
Snowsill's case for inclusion in the Australian team was rejected by the three-member Independent Olympic Appeals Tribunal after a five-hour hearing in Melbourne on Monday night. Snowsill said she accepted the decision and would not take her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In a posting on her website, Snowsill said "whilst I am upset with the outcome, I have to respect the decision of the tribunal and will not be pursuing the matter further."
"It has been a difficult time and one I am glad to have resolved," Snowsill said.
"To that end, I would like to again apologize to those affected by my appeal and to thank the other athletes for their discretion in the matter. My appeal was never a criticism of their abilities and I sincerely wish them all the best for their preparations and performances in London."
The 30-year-old Snowsill launched her appeal after being left out of the Australian triathlon team when it was named last week. She argued that the Triathlon Australia selection committee had not followed its own nomination criteria and had not given her a reasonable opportunity to meet those criteria.
Illness and injury over the past 18 months had affected her bid for selection.
Triathlon Australia will now recommend to the Australian Olympic Committee that its three female nominees -- Emma Moffatt, Erin Densham and Emma Jackson -- be selected for London.
Snowsill has won an Olympic gold medal, a Commonwealth Games title and three world championships to become the most decorated female triathlete in the International Triathlon Union's (ITU) history. She seemed certain to be selected in the Australian team along with Moffatt and Jackson until Densham's exceptional form this year propelled her into the team.
Densham, 27, has won two ITU races in 2012 and has finished second, third and fourth in her other events. Jackson, a 20-year-old former junior world champion, won her place after finishing fourth in the ITU world championship series in an outstanding debut season.
Tribunal chairman David Grace QC said the Triathlon Australia selectors faced a difficult choice between Snowsill, Densham and Jackson for the final two spots and one "exceptional athlete" had to be disappointed.
Snowsill gave evidence via teleconference from her training base in Germany.
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