Jovanovic, a pusher for the U.S. sled driven by Todd Hays, was banned from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah after the failed test. He is set to compete in both the two- and four-man bobsled events in Turin, Italy.
In his complaint filed Friday, Jovanovic, who lives in Toms River, N.J., contends he tested positive for the banned 19-norandrostenedione steroid on Dec. 29, 2001, only after consuming Century Foods' Nitro-Tech protein powder that he purchased at a store in Park City.
Jovanovic was suspended after the failed drug test and lost a last-minute appeal that would have enabled him to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Jovanovic, whose teammates went on to win a silver medal without him, emerged from a two-year ban from the sport in late 2003.
According to the suit, Jovanovic not only lost an opportunity to win an Olympic medal, but he is struggling with a reputation that is "permanently tarnished" by the failed drug test. He said he never would have consumed the protein powder had he known it contained a banned substance.
Century Foods could not immediately be reached for comment.
Salt Lake City skeleton slider Zach Lund is in a similar position leading up to the Turin Games.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport that could yet keep the 26-year-old out of the Olympics that begin next week. The agency believes Lund was not punished harshly enough for testing positive for a banned substance that can be used to hide the use of performance-enhancing steroids. A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Thursday in Turin - the day before the opening ceremony.
Lund tested positive for finasteride at a World Cup race in Canada in November and was suspended from competition while his case was investigated.
But he was only warned - not suspended further - by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last month after insisting that the substance was an innocuous ingredient in the hair-replacement product he had been using to fight baldness, and that he did not know it had been added to the international list of banned substances last year.
