Shamed doper Levine banned for four years
BriTiSh sprinter nigel levine has been banned for four years after failing a drugs test.
Sportsmail revealed the positive test for clenbuterol last December and after a provisional suspension it was ruled by UK anti-Doping yesterday that the 29-year-old was guilty. Under British athletics’ clean performance manifesto, introduced in 2016, he will never represent Britain again.
levine, who was a major part of British relay squads and won nine medals at world and european level, blamed the failed test in november 2017 on contaminated supplements. however, he was unable to provide samples from the correct batch for examination. levine has not raced since he broke his pelvis in a motorcycle accident in January 2017 involving team-mate James ellington.
UKaD chief executive nicole Sapstead said: ‘all athletes must adhere to the principle of strict liability, and are solely responsible for any substances found in their system. Mr levine is an elite athlete and has received significant anti-doping education throughout his career. it is up to role models such as Mr levine to uphold the highest standards when it comes to anti- doping, ensuring they check all supplements thoroughly and are 100 per cent certain they know that what they are consuming is not prohibited.’
Meanwhile, Mo Farah announced yesterday that he will run in the london Marathon next year but then made the shock admission that he might return to the track at the Tokyo Olympics.
The four-time Olympic champion has previously hinted he might run the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Doha next year, but there has never been a suggestion of the 35- year- old running anything other than the marathon at Tokyo 2020.
now, having surprised himself with his speed in sessions before winning the Chicago Marathon last month, Farah has revealed he is keeping his options open for the 10,000m. When asked yesterday about the prospects of a track return, he said: ‘i was honest when i said i was done with the track but i look at my team-mates and who i was competing against and part of me missed it.
‘i feel like i can still win medals on the track and do as well as i have over the years. if there was a chance to compete i wouldn’t turn down a medal. it gives me a great option. i’m not sure what i’ll do — i’ll do the london Marathon in april and then look at the worlds, the 10k or the marathon.’
The landscape in the marathon is far tougher, with world recordholder eliud Kipchoge a street ahead of the rest. Farah, while not yet in a position to beat the Kenyan, is ready for the challenge. Kipchoge is in talks with london Marathon organisers over his return to defend his title and Farah said: ‘it would be nice to race against eliud. i don’t think there’s anyone who can beat him at the minute. i want to race him. i can beat him at some point — will it be in london 2019? i don’t know.’