Sport
Jamaica: Sprinters Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson to learn fate in April
Asafa Powell. PHOTO/Getty Images
Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell must wait until April 10 to learn if he can resume his career this year after submissions were completed Wednesday in a doping hearing.
The 3-member Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel heard final arguments from attorneys representing Powell and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) completed submissions in the case on Thursday.
Powell, a former world 100-meter champion, and training partner Sherone Simpson tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine after the 100m final at the Jamaican national championships last June 21.
Powell, who set a world record in the 100 metres in 2008 with a time of 9.74 seconds, blames Canadian physical therapist Chris Xuereb for the positive test, saying he provided the nutritional supplement, Epiphany D1, that resulted in the positive test.
JADCO lawyer Lackston Robinson pushed for a 2-year competition ban for Powell, whose attorney, Kwame Gordon, asked for leniency.
Robinson said Powell’s blind trust of Xuereb, whom he had known for less than 2 months, was “not only significant negligence but gross negligence” and cited discrepancies in testimony by Powell, Simpson and their manager, Paul Doyle.
A bottle of Epiphany D1 submitted for testing to a US lab by Doyle showed traces of oxilofrine while one bought by the lab from the Epiphany D1 website did not test positive for the same substance.
