Jamaica’s drug-testing practices are to be audited by the World Anti-Doping Agency amid claims of gaps in testing.
Jamaica’s drug-testing practices are to be audited by the World Anti-Doping Agency amid claims of gaps in testing.
A former director of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (Jadco) says out-of-competition testing was insufficient ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
A number of Jamaican stars, including sprinter Asafa Powell, have since tested positive for banned substances.
“Wada has accepted an invitation from the Prime Minister of Jamaica to visit and inspect Jadco,” said the agency.
“Wada was unhappy to learn that Jadco cannot accommodate this visit until 2014.”
The IAAF, athletics’ governing body, insists it has extensively tested elite Jamaican athletes.
The country’s sprinters won eight individual medals at the London Games.
But in recent months, Jamaica’s reputation has been tarnished with news of positive tests by Powell, Sherone Simpson and three-time Olympic gold medal winner Veronica Campbell-Brown.
Former Jadco director Renee Anne Shirley alleged in August that athletes were not tested outside of competition for five of the seven months before last year’s Olympics.
While the organisation’s chairman Herbert Elliot has dismissed her claims, Wada director-general David Howman believes there is an issue.
“There was a period of, and forgive me if I don’t have the number of months right, but maybe five to six months during the beginning part of 2012 where there was no effective operation,” Howman told theAssociated Press.
“There might have been one or two, but there was no testing. So we were worried about it, obviously.”
Jadco is not the only body which would carry out drug tests on Jamaican athletes.
An IAAF spokesman told the Associated Press its own out-of-competition programme was “robust and comprehensive”, with tests carried out at Jamaican training camps.
Meanwhile, all athletes finishing in the top five places at the London Games were tested by the International Olympic Committee.
Courtesy: BBC
Photo: Asafa Powell…tested positive earlier this year
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