GRANGE
Sports Minister Olivia Grange last night expressed disappointment with the reports that a Jamaican athlete who was selected to represent the country at the Beijing Olympics has tested positive for a banned substance.
Grange, however, declined to comment further, saying she would do so after the doping process, which includes appeals, is completed.
"If there is any positive in this, it is that our doping procedures work," she said.
Verbal notification
Yesterday, the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) said it had been officially notified by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) that a sample taken from a Jamaican athlete who participated in the National Championships in June tested positive for a prohibited substance.
The JOA had received a verbal notification of the positive test last Friday.
In a statement released late yesterday, the JOA said the athlete had been advised of the positive test in accordance with Rule 37 of the IAAF that lays down a specific process to be followed in cases involving doping violations. The athlete now has five days to indicate whether the right to the testing of the 'B' sample is to be exercised or whether the laboratory analysis of the 'A' sample is to be accepted.
Withdrawn from team
Meanwhile, the athlete has been withdrawn from the team by the JOA in accordance with its own anti-doping rules and the rules of the International Olympic Committee.
The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games has also been advised of the development.
Just recently, Dr Adrian Lorde, president of the Regional Anti-Doping Organisation, and American Victor Conte had accused Jamaica of not having an independent anti-doping organisation. They claimed that as a result, Jamaican athletes were not being sufficiently tested.
Conte is the man at the centre of the Bay Area Laboratory Company scandal that brought about the downfall of United States' track and field star Marion Jones, former 100 metre world record holder Tim Montgomery, and coach Trevor Graham, among others.
