Sport
Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson banned until Dec. 20
Sherone Simpson. PHOTO/Getty Images
Jamaican Olympic sprinter Sherone Simpson has been banned until December 20 after testing positive for a banned stimulant, a disciplinary panel announced Tuesday.
The 3-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission said it would soon release its reasons for issuing an 18-month ban, which begins from the June 21, 2013 sample collection date. The Olympic 4×100-meter relay gold and silver medalist, along with former 100-meter world record holder Asafa Powell, tested positive for oxilofrone at Jamaica’s national championships in June.
In a brief announcement at a conference center in Kingston, commission chairman Lennox Gayle would only say the panel unanimously found that “Miss Simpson was negligent in all the circumstances.”
The 29-year-old sprinter did not attend Thursday’s session. Her attorney, Kwame Gordon, said she was training in the U.S. and was not able to fly back in time.
“It was very difficult for her to be here today,” he said.
Simpson previously said she was not a “cheat” and had never intentionally taken the banned stimulant. Like her former teammate Powell, she blamed a newly hired Canadian trainer for providing her with a supplement that led to the positive test.
Simpson has said that she researched the “Epiphany D1” supplement for up to 14 hours online before taking it, and that nothing “raised a red flag or an alarm bell.” The veteran sprinter acknowledged that she did not disclose the new supplement on doping control forms.
Her former trainer, Christopher Xuereb, has told reporters he never gave Simpson or Powell any performance-enhancing drugs and only purchased major brand vitamins. In July, he told reporters the 2 Jamaican sprinting stars were clearly looking for a scapegoat.
Simpson’s agent, Paul Doyle, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. He testified earlier this year at disciplinary hearings for Simpson and Powell, who is also a client.
The Jamaican disciplinary panel on Tuesday also issued a 2-year ban for Jamaican Olympic discus thrower Allison Randall, who is suspended until June 2015. Randall’s ban also begins from her June 21, 2013 sample collection date. She represented Jamaica during the 2012 Olympics in London but failed to reach the final.
Randall tested positive for a banned substance at the national championships, and commission members said they could not establish how the substance came to be in her body. She was one of five Jamaican athletes, including Powell and Simpson, who tested positive at the same June meet.
Randall had testified earlier that she believed the source was a supplement she was taking called “Animal Pak,” but the panel ruled she was unable to establish how the substance got into her body. She appeared via Skype during Tuesday’s hearing but showed no reaction after the ruling was announced.
The commission is expected to issue a much-anticipated ruling on Thursday in the case of Powell.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press