Drug test not done on one athlete on day of event
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT was shocking news for many Jamaicans when word broke that their new ‘darlings’ of sprint had a world record stripped from them, because of a slipup by the Jamaica Athletics Association over drug testing.
At the recently-held 2022 CARIFTA Games, host country Jamaica dominated the event winning more than 90 medals in Track and in the Field and, in the process, the island’s Under-20 Girls 4x100m Relay, the athletes had blaze their to a new world record of 42.58s.
However, on Wednesday (Jun. 1), the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) confirmed that one among the quartet was not tested, forcing the world governing body to drop the new world record, set on April 17.
In its defence, JADCO explained in a media statement that a doping test was conducted on three of the females of the team on the day of the race, but a urine sample was not collected from the fourth one because she was tested on the previous day. And as is customary with the body’s policy, they did not determine that it was suitable.
“It is customary, and in JADCO’s best practice in competition, that if any athlete is tested today in competition, the said athlete would not be tested the following day,” noted the statement.
Though it is best practice for the Commission, this slipup will be a disappointment for the junior athletes and an embarrassment for a body that prides itself.
The Commission revealed that 18 tests were conducted through the three-day meet, with them focusing on those top performers and record breakers.
Now, as the anti-doping agency works to rectify any problems, it promised to “ensure that the testing of record-breaking athletes despite the frequency of testing”.
The record will not stand, but the Jamaicans will continue to smile as they currently hold the record set at last year's World Junior Championships.
