GB sprinter Levine lands four-year ban for doping

● Olympian and European 4x400m champ tested positive for Clenbuterol

British sprinter and relay champion Nigel Levine has been suspended from all sport for four years after testing positive for the banned asthma drug clenbuterol, UK Anti-doping announced yesterday.

The 29-year-old tested positive for the prohibited substance following an out-ofcompetition test on 24 November last year.

It emerged in February that the Trinidad and Tobago-born athlete had been charged with committing an anti-doping violation and provisionally suspended.

There have been numerous high-profile doping cases involving Clenbuterol, with perhaps the most famous being that of Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador. The seventime Grand Tour winner was

0 Sprinter Nigel Levine in action for Team GB in 2016.

eventually given a two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport despite arguing his positive was caused by eating a contaminated steak.

In its announcement of the four-year ban, UKAD said Levine’s suspension would

be backdated to 13 December 2017, the date of the provisional suspension, and will now run until 12 December 2021.

Widely used to treat breathing problems, clenbuterol has also been abused by athletes and bodybuilders to burn fat and boost aerobic capacity, hence its place on the World Anti-doping Agency’s prohibited list.

Levine is an indoor and outdoor European 4x400 metres relay champion and competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

He failed the test having only just returned to training after a serious motorbike accident with team-mate James Ellington in Tenerife in January 2017, in which he suffered a broken pelvis.

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, who has competed at the Olympic Games, European and World Championships, 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.”