U.S. hurdler McNeal loses appeal, will not defend title in Tokyo
American hurdler Brianna McNeal will not defend her Olympic title in Tokyo after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed her appeal of a fiveyear suspension for a doping code violation.
McNeal, the 2016 Olympic 100-meter hurdles gold medalist, becomes the second high profile U.S. track and field athlete this week to be ruled out of the Tokyo Games in their primary event because of a doping code violation. Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was stripped of her Olympic Trials 100-meter title after testing positive for cannabis in test conducted after the event’s final in Eugene, Oregon. Richardson agreed to a one-month suspension which would allow her to still compete in the 4×100-meter relay in Tokyo.
World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, banned McNeal on April 21 for five years after determining she violated the organization’s anti-doping rules regarding “tampering or attempted tampering with any part of Doping Control.” Neither World Athletics, the Athletics Integrity Unit, which administers World Athletics’ anti-doping program, nor CAS have revealed more specific details about McNeal’s alleged violations.
McNeal, through her attorneys, has denied taking banned substances or testing positive for banned substances.
CAS in June granted McNeal a stay and enabled her to compete in the Olympic Trials where she finished second.
This is McNeal’s second violation of the doping code. She missed the 2017 season while serving a suspension for missing three out-of-competition drug tests. Athletes are required provide doping officials with a one-hour window each day where they can be tested. McNeal acknowledged that in three occasions in 2016 she was not at the location at the time she listed for her availability with anti-doping agencies.