Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and Jamaican teammate Sherone Simpson have each tested positive for banned stimulants, their agent told The Associated Press.
Powell and Simpson tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican championships last month and were just recently notified, Paul Doyle said Sunday, with their provisional ban effective immediately. The news came the same day that American 100-meter record holder Tyson Gay revealed that he also failed a doping test.
Powell helped the Jamaicans to the 400-meter relay gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and was the last man to hold the individual 100 record before countryman Usain Bolt broke it earlier that year. Simpson won Olympic gold in the women’s 400 relay in 2004 and silver in 2012, along with an individual silver in the 100 in 2008. “They’re devastated,” Doyle said. “I’m optimistic that Asafa’s and Sherone’s names will be cleared. It is a stimulant ban, which I hate to call any infraction minor - any positive test is major, in my opinion - but at the same time it was something that was inadvertent. Hopefully, through our investigation and all that, we’ll be able to show it was unintentional.”
These doping positives come a month after another Jamaican Olympic champion, Veronica Campbell-Brown, tested positive for a banned diuretic. Doyle said it’s too early to say whether Powell or Simpson will be able to compete at the world championships in Moscow next month. Powell did not finish in the top three at last month’s nationals to qualify for worlds, but possibly could participate as a member of the 400m relay.