Jamaican athlete pulled from Olympic squad over doping

The unnamed athlete, who was pulled from the national team, is not considered to be a 'top athlete' - thus ruling out world record-holder Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.

A positive drug test returned by a Jamaican athlete at the national Olympic trials shouldn’t affect the team’s performance in Beijing, Mike Fennell, head of the Jamaica Olympic association, said.

The unnamed athlete, who was pulled from the national team, is not considered to be a ‘top athlete,’ Fennell said – apparently ruling out 100m world record-holder Usain Bolt and former world record-holder Asafa Powell.

Fennell has refused to confirm whisperings that the athlete may have been a preliminary round runner on one of the relay teams.

Story continues below this ad

“It is a very sensitive and important issue, and we have to be careful with how we treat it,” he said.

Jamaica’s best medal haul at the Olympics was seven in Sydney eight years ago and track and field experts had predicted that the country, with several of the world’s top athletes, could earn as many as 11 medals in Beijing.

Fennell said that the positive test “won’t affect anybody who is clean.”

He added, however that the team “would be extremely disappointed that one of their colleague has let them down.”

Story continues below this ad

There have been several questions in recent months about the super performance of Jamaican athletes.

Adrian Lorde, head of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation, recently lambasted Jamaica for not doing enough doping tests.

However, for Fennell, the fact that the local system caught and is about to expose a cheat is testament to robust testing.

“Everybody is extremely disappointed that one of our athletes has tested positive, but I think it is a warning to everybody that we have a very robust testing system in place, which is working,” he said.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the designation gives law enforcement “enhanced powers to combat a group that has instilled fear through violence and intimidation”.

Canada designates Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity

Cities19 min ago

The Canadian government has labeled the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group, granting authorities more authority to combat their violent behavior. The gang, operating in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta, has been connected to 50+ violent incidents since 2023.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS