Gay facing lengthy ban after Usada confirmation
DENVER: Tyson Gay, the secondfastest 100m sprinter in history, is likely to miss much more than August’s world championships after the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) confirmed his positive doping test on Saturday.
Gay had already revealed that his A sample had been positive from a May 16 out-of-competition test and Usada confirmed the B sample was also positive, as was another A sample from Gay.
‘‘We can confirm that the B sample analysis of a sample collected from Mr Gay has been completed, and that the B sample analysis has confirmed the A sample findings,’’ Usada chief executive officer Travis Tygart said.
‘‘An additional sample collected from Mr Gay has also returned an adverse A sample finding.
‘‘The results of these tests were expected given Mr Gay’s acceptance of responsibility for the substances found in his body as soon as he was notified of the A sample results.’’
Gay, who won the 100m and 200m titles at last month’s US Track and Field championships, withdrew from next month’s World Championships in Moscow when he revealed the A positive finding.
‘‘We appreciate Mr Gay voluntarily removing himself from competition prior to the World Championships while we evaluate the circumstances surrounding his adverse analytical findings and work towards achieving a fair resolution of his case in accord- ance with the rules,’’ Tygart said.
Gay blamed the result on having trusted someone who betrayed him, presumably regarding the acceptability of a substance that he ingested, but gave no further details about the situation.
But in addition to missing this year’s world meet, Gay might be looking at a significant doping ban now that he has been confirmed with at least one positive test and potentially with more to come.
Gay, who turns 31 on Aug 9, won the world 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles at the 2007 in Osaka. He was on the US 4x100m relay that took silver at last year’s London Olympics.
He went public regarding his A positive two weeks ago on the same day that it was revealed another sprint star, Jamaican Asafa Powell, had tested positive, delivering another black eye for athletics ahead of its biennial global showcase in Russia.