Olympic champion sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown is facing a two-year suspension from racing after samples taken at the Kingston Invitational last month tested positive for a banned substance.
Testers reportedly found a diuretic in her system that was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because of its use a masking agent for performance enhancing drugs. Campbell-Brown was informed on June 3 that her A sample had tested positive, and then traveled to the WADA headquarters in Montreal Thursday before her B sample confirmed the positive results.
Campbell-Brown, 31, is one of Jamaica’s most decorated Olympic athletes, having won seven medals including back-to-back 200m gold in Athens and Beijing, and 100m bronze in London. She’ll now miss the Jamaican national trials taking place next weekend in Kingston, and won’t be able to defend her 200m world title in Moscow next month.
Fellow Jamaican sprinter Dominique Blake was given a six year ban earlier this week after testing positive at last summer’s national trials in the lead up to the London Games. Ironically, the Jamaican government recently announced a new $16 million budget for testing in and out of competition.