World champion sprinter Coleman banned for two years
Men’s 100-meter world champion Christian Coleman was banned for two years on Tuesday and lost his chance to succeed Usain Bolt as the fastest man at the Olympic Games.
Track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said it banned the American sprinter for two years, until May 13, 2022, because of three violations of doping control rules.
Coleman missed two visits by sample collection officials and failed to file correct information on another occasion, all in 2019 — the year he won his first world title.
“We see this case as involving behavior by the athlete as very careless at best and reckless at worst,” the three-person judging panel said in its published ruling.
The 24-year-old Coleman had been provisionally suspended from competition since May. Weeks later, details of his three so- called “whereabouts failures” were revealed.
Athletes face a two-year ban if they have three violations in a 12-month period.
Coleman’s agent, Emanuel Hudson, said the decision was “unfortunate and will be immediately appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
The episode last year marked Coleman’s third violation in a 12-month span of the anti-doping “whereabouts” system, which is designed to streamline the ability for drug testers to reach the world’s best athletes without advance notice.
A previous similar case against Coleman wa s dropped weeks before the 2019 world championships in Doha, Qatar.
That cleared him to take gold in the individual 100 and 4x100 relay and establish him as favorite to win titles at the Tokyo Olympics which have been postponed to next year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Jamaican icon Bolt won the
marquee 100-meter dash at the past three Summer Games.
The judges said there was no suggestion Coleman ever took a banned substance.
Motorsports
NASCAR PLAYOFFS RAINED OUT FOR 3RD CONSECUTIVE DAY AT TEXAS >> NASCAR will make a fourth attempt to complete its playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth today after persistent mist and cold temperatures continued the long delay.
The race began Sunday and drivers completed 52 of the scheduled 334 laps before mist and drizzle halted the action. The weather did not relent on Monday or Tuesday as NASCAR spent about two dozen futile hours trying to dry the track.
The resumption of the race was set for noon PT at the Texas track.
The Cup Series is scheduled to finalize the championship
field Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. It is not clear how NASCAR may have to adjust scheduling based on the postponements in Texas.
NHL
AVALANCHE SIGN DEFENSEMAN TOEWS TO 4-YEAR DEAL >>
The Colorado Avalanche have agreed to a four-year deal with newly acquired defenseman Devon Toews.
The contract for Toews runs through the 202324 season, the team announced. The deal is worth $16.4 million, according to CapFriendly.com.
Colorado picked up Toews from the New York Islanders on Oct. 12 in exchange for a second-round pick in 2021 and another in ‘22.
The 26-year- old Toews had six goals and 22 assists in 68 games for the Islanders last season. He played in all 22 of the team’s playoff games, where he had two goals and eight assists.
“Devon is a smart, twoway, puck-moving defenseman who is a durable defender and is excellent in transition,” Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a statement.
Golf
PAR 3 CONTEST OUT, ‘ COLLEGE GAMEDAY’ IN AT DIFFERENT MASTERS >> The Par 3 Contest is out at the spectator-free Masters in November. ESPN’s “College GameDay” is in.
Augusta National announced more changes to a Masters tournament that will be unlike any of the previous 83. The most unusual of all is ESPN’s popular college football pregame show taking place on a stage that overlooks a pond and the ninth green of the Par 3 course.
The Par 3 Contest dates to 1960 and is a big part of the tradition at Augusta National, mainly the jinx that no one has ever won the Par 3 and the Masters in the same year.
So much about this Masters is different because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down golf on March 13 and led Augusta National to postpone the Masters until Nov. 12-15, without spectators for the first time.
Because of the fall date and shorter daylight hours, the club said the weekday rounds would be played in threesomes off the first and 10th tees.
Cycling
WOODS WINS VUELTA’S 7TH STAGE , CARAPAZ KEEPS OVERALL LEAD >> Michael Woods prevailed in the final kilometer to win the seventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta, with Richard Carapaz holding on to the overall leader’s jersey.
Woods made his move to the front entering the final mile and finished four seconds in front of Omar Fraile and Alejandro Valverde after a hilly stage that took riders 98 miles from Vitoria- Gasteiz to Valdegovía.
Carapaz maintained the overall lead by finishing in the peloton, which crossed the line almost a minute later. The Ecuadorian kept an 18-second lead over Hugh Carthy, with Dan Martin and defending champion Primoz Roglic close behind.
Soccer
BARCELONA’S BARTOMEU QUITS IN FALLOUT OF MESSI FEUD >> Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu resigned amid the fallout of his feud with star Lionel Messi.
After one of the club’s worst seasons in more than a decade, Bartomeu announced that his entire board of directors also resigned, thus avoiding a motion of censure vote that was scheduled for the coming weeks. Messi was critical of club directors last season and said he didn’t like the direction the club was headed. He personally complained of Bartomeu for not keeping his promise to let him leave. WILLIS GETS MLS-LEADING 9TH SHUTOUT FOR NASHVILLE >> Randall Leal scored in the 33rd minute, Joe Willis recorded his MLS-leading ninth shutout, and Nashville SC beat the Montreal Impact 1- 0 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
Nashville (7- 6-7) is unbeaten in its last four games and moved into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. Montreal (7-12-2) has lost four of its last five games, and sits two points above the playoff line.
Leal scored his third goal this season. Alex Muyl was fouled near midfield and quickly got up to send a free kick past the defense for a calm finish by Leal.
Willis made two saves for the MLS lead in shutouts.
College sports BETHUNE- COOKMAN CANC E L S WI N T E R , SPRING SPORTS >>
Bethune- Cookman won’t participate in intercollegiate sports this coming winter or spring. The university located in Daytona Beach, Florida, said it’s canceled all athletic events for the remainder of the academic year because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
University president E. LaBrent Chrite said the decision was made “in the face of a surging COVID-19 spike” in Florida.
WOODEN LEGACY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT CANCELED >> The Wooden Legacy has been canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgetown, Kansas, UCLA and Virginia had been scheduled to play in the twoday event on Nov. 25-26 in Anaheim.
Also South Carolina’s Charleston Classic and Myrtle Beach Invitational have been called off until 2021.