Sherone Simpson Banned For 18 Months, Blames Trainer For ‘Illegal Substance’

Sherone Simpson, the Olympic sprinter, was prohibited from running until Dec 20 this year after testing positive for what was described as a “banned substance.”

The incident which triggered the ban occurred in June 2013, and this writer reported the details in an Inquisitr article in July entitled “Jamaican Sprinters’ Hotel Room Raided For Drugs.”

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission found that Simpson was ”negligent in all the circumstances.”

Although the ban is supposedly for 18 months, the time starts from the date the alleged offense was committed (when the sample was taken), which is why there are only a few months to go.

Simpson, who represented Jamaica in the Olympic 4 x 100-relay was a gold and silver medalist. She insists that she did not ”cheat” and never intentionally took the stimulant oxilofrone.

Paul Doyle, who represents Simpson and is her agent, called the ruling ”incredibly unjust” and said they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport. He noted that two labs were commissioned to test the suspect substance, called ”Epiphany D1,” and both determined oxilofrone was present and not declared on the label.

Doyle emailedThe Associated Press:”The fact that the panel has given 18 months’ suspension and have provided no explanation as to why is unacceptable in our opinion,”

World former 100-meter record holder Asafa Powell, who was checked in the same hotel room raid as Simpson, also tested positive for oxilofrone.

Simpson said that her new Canadian trainer was to blame for giving her the supplement that led to the positive test. The sprinter says she was troubled by a hamstring injury at the time.

Simpson. 29, said she checked up on the supplement before taking it and didn’t find anything negative about it. However, Sherone does admit that she didn’t reveal that she was taking the substance on the doping control forms.

Simpson’s former trainer, Christopher Xuereb, told the AP that he never gave Simpson or Powell any performance-enhancing drugs. He only ever bought branded vitamins. Soon after the raid he said that Simpson and Powell were looking for a scapegoat.

Simpson was not present at the Thursday session and her lawyer, Kwame Gordon, explained that she was training in the U.S. and could not to fly back in time.

The commission also banned Jamaican Olympic discus thrower Allison Randall for two years after she tested positive at the national championship. She said that she believed the failed test arose from the use of a supplement called ”Animal Pak.” The commission could not determine how the substance entered her body.

One cannot help but recall the words of Lance Armstrong at the height of the drugs controversy surrounding him, when he indicated that it would be impossible to achieve the records being set now WITHOUT the use of enhancing substances.

It isn’t that Sherone Simpson is an exception.

It’s simply that she was unlucky enough to get caught in the wider net.