British sprinter in ‘failed drug test’

BRITISH athletics was in meltdown last night amid claims from inside the sport that top sprinter Nigel Levine had failed a drugs test. The double European gold medallist and three-times world medallist is alleged to have tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol. Sportsmail understands that Levine, 28, who was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in January which threatened his career, is awaiting the result of his B sample. He is no longer coached by British Olympic sprint legend Linford Christie or represented by management company Nuff Respect, but is understood to use the Austrian at the centre of the latest Justin Gatlin controversy, Robert Wagner, as a race agent. Both Gatlin and Wagner have denied any wrongdoing. A number of sources inside British athletics are aware of the alleged failed test, even though UK Athletics last night declined to comment. The motorcycle accident in Spain at the start of this year

with fellow sprinter James Ellington left the two athletes fighting for their careers after colliding with an oncoming car. While Ellington suffered the more serious injuries, Levine was left with a broken pelvis and subsequently missed the entire 2017 track season. He had said: ‘I’ve got to deal with it now. I’m still smiling and getting on with life. I’m just happy just to be alive and mobile, still got all my limbs and have a great team.’ But Levine (right) has now returned to training and has been dividing his time between Christie’s sprint group at Brunel University and the elite British training group at Lee Valley Athletics Centre. Clenbuterol is an asthma drug but has a history of abuse in sport because of its performance-enhancing qualities as a weight-loss drug. Perhaps the most famous case concerned cyclist Alberto Contador, who was banned for two years from professional cycling after testing positive for the substance at the 2010 Tour de France. The Spaniard claimed it was caused by a contaminated food supplement but he was stripped of the 2010 Tour title and, later, his victory in the 2011 Giro d’Italia. In athletics, former German sprint champion Katrin Krabbe received a two-year ban for taking clenbuterol and — after a legal dispute with the IAAF — missed the 1992 Olympics, which effectively ended her career. Levine was unavailable for comment last night, as was Wagner.