Jamaican Squad for Daegu marred by the news of an athlete’s failed drug test – Athletics news
At a time when everyone is busy preparing for the mega athletics event to commence in South Korea, the Jamaican squad has been marred by the news of an athlete failing the drug test prior to the flight to Daegu, where the IAAF World Athletics Championships
will begin on August 27.
The news about an athlete being identified as positive with banned drugs was broken during a pre-championships camp organised in Gyeonasan. The track and field fraternity in Jamaica has been rocked by the news and it is still left to see whether the incident
will harm the credibility of the body on the global athletics platform.
As per information revealed through some reliable sources, a male athlete, who was being considered as a part of the contingent leaving for Daegu soon, had been found positive with a banned substance. With this new finding just before the mega athletics
event, it is evident that it will negatively affect the overall morale of athletes preparing to leave for South Korea soon.
According to initial investigations, the said athlete was reported to have returned the ‘drug-use test’ in June last year, while the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Championships were underway. However, on this last Monday, it was notified that the
results emanated from his blood samples had observed a positive sign.
When approached for his response, a senior official at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) said that he was hearing the news for the first time, however, in order to counter the issue in a professional manner, he said that they were going
to convene a meeting of the executive council which was busy in planning the details of the visit for the upcoming event.
When asked to share his views over the matter, Dr. Patrece Charles-Freeman, the Executive Director of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCo) said that at the moment, he was not in a position to comment on the issue. Preferring to stay elusive over the
matter, he said, “I have no comment on the matter. There is no way JADCo can comment at this time.”
Back in 2008, just ahead of the Beijing Olympics, Julien Dunkley, the sprinter was found positive for a banned substance, and thus, the runner had to be dropped from the team. Similarly, athletes like Yohan Blake, Sheri-Ann Brooks, Marvin Anderson, Allodin
Fothergill and Lanceford Spence have also faced a ban in their career for similar charges.
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