Steve Mullings served with a life-time ban for doping
Steve Mullings, the 28-year-old sprinter from Jamaica who was a specialist for 100m and 200m competitions, has been served with a life-time ban after the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel charged a second offensive against him for using the banned performance
boosting substance.
Mullings’ career in international athletics started off with his bronze medal winning performance in the 100m contest at the Pan American Junior Championships.
By the year 2004, he finally succeeded in emerging as a quality performer by marking 10.04 seconds finish in the 100m and by clocking a 20.22 seconds in the 200m run.
Doing so got him a place in the 2004 Summer Olympics, however, that very year his career got tainted with doping allegations.
Later on, his B samples were also found to be positive for using testosterone. The doping results imposed a two years ban on him and his performance for the years 2004 and 2005 was removed from the athletics record.
While announcing the verdict regarding Mullings’ athletics career, Lenox Gayle, the panel chairman, said, “We the panel believes that a clear and strong message must be sent to every athlete in Jamaica and elsewhere that prohibited substances will not be
tolerated in sports”.
Commenting on the decision by the arbitrary panel, Alando Terrelonge said that it was unfair and lacked proof based evidence.
He said, “There was no evidence before this panel to indicate that Mr. Mullings either deliberately took a drug to enhance his performance or to mask the presence of other drugs that he was taking to enhance his performance.”
Mullings, who represented Jamaica in the world athletics championships in 2009, was expected to appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Jamaican, who happens to be the world champion for relay race, was declared guilty on Monday.
At the time the decision was aired, he was in USA. Banned for using diuretic furosemide, the sprinter did not attend the hearing in which the life-time ban was served to him.
While giving final words on the decision, Gayle, who claimed that the decision was unanimous by the three-member panel, said, “The fact that Mr. Mullings, on several occasions we tried to get him here and he refused to attend, and we believe that we certainly
should impose the maximum in this particular case”.
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