5 Jamaican athletes cleared of doping

By ANTHONY FOSTER (AP)

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Five Jamaican athletes were cleared Monday of doping at their national championships two months ago after the country’s anti-doping panel failed to determine whether the banned substance was on the prohibited list.

The athletes reportedly tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine. But Kent Gammon, chairman of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission’s disciplinary committee, said it was unable to prove they had breached any doping policy.

“Therefore, we have not found any of the athletes in violation of the (anti-doping) code,” Gammon said.

The athletes had previously been identified as Yohan Blake, Sheri-Ann Brooks , Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Marvin Anderson.

The athletes are now cleared to compete in the world championships in Berlin , but the International Association of Athletics Federations — track and field’s governing body and organizer of the worlds — could review the ruling.

The IAAF can challenge any judgments in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, world sport’s highest court of appeal, based in Lausanne , Switzerland . The IAAF can also provisionally suspend athletes until the CAS delivers a verdict.

The anti-doping panel started its hearing last week. None of the five athletes are considered among Jamaica ’s top talent, but the positive tests were a blow to a nation that takes great pride in the accomplishments of its sprinters.

Monday’s announcement came after Jamaica ’s Amateur Athletic Association warned another five athletes that they would be barred from the worlds if they did not attend a training camp this week.

Those athletes included 100-meter Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser and Asafa Powell, a former 100 world-record holder. The others are 400 hurdles Olympic gold medalist Melaine Walker, hurdler Brigitte Foster-Hylton and sprinter Shericka Williams.