By Kayon Raynor
Olympic and World Championship medalists Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson have had their 18 month drug bans reduced to six months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS.
The ruling comes six days after the sprinters’ appeal took place in New York on July 7 and 8.
“The CAS decided to reduce their period of ineligibility to 6 months, which has been already served. The athletes were already free to compete since 18 June 2014 after the CAS had granted a stay of the decisions of the Jamaica Anti-doping Disciplinary Panel of 8 and 10 April 2014,” A releae from CAS said Monday morning.
“Thank you to the Court of Arbitration for Sports,” tweeted Asafa Powell. “Finally this weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Justice has been served. Now let’s run,” Powell added.
Sherone Simpson was equally happy: “I fee total relief and that we have been finally vindicated,” Simpson reacted. “We both knew that we had done all we could to ensure the supplement was okay before taking it. Our actions were not intentional and CAS has recognised that. I a, truly thankful,” Simpson added.
The former training partners who were represented by American attorney Paul Green, had argued that the offense committed is minor and requested that the suspensions be reduced to 3 months.
Powell, who has run a record 81 sub-10s and Simpson, each tested positive for the stimulant Oxilofrine on June 21, 2013 at the Jamaican senior trials.
The Jamaica Anti-doping Disciplinary Panel suspended the athletes for 18 months in April, backdated to Jun 21, 2013 to end December 20 this year.
This is the second time that CAS has reduced doping suspensions imposed by the Jamaica Anti-doping Disciplinary panel in the last three months.
The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission’s Executive Director Carey Brown responded: “We see and note the ruling by CAS and we will abide by the ruling,” Brown told RJR Sports Online.
On May 5, CAS sliced 18 months from a six year ban imposed on Jamaican 400m-runner Dominique Blake which was retroactive to July 1, 2012.
CAS had previously dismissed a two-year ban imposed by the IAAF and Jamaica Athletics Administration Association (JAAA) on two-time Olympic 200m gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown in February.
The JAAA’s President Dr. Warren Blake also responded.
“The (JADCO) disciplinary committee will have to look at the ruling and hopefully learn from the rulings and judgements,” Dr. Blake said. He continued: “And use that to decide how to proceed if there are any future cases.”
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CAS rules against local body again
