Tyson Gay & Asafa Powell Test Positive For Banned Substance.

Athletics was left in shock after it was revealed that Tyson Gay, the world's fastest 100m runner this year, Asafa Powell and four other Jamaican athletes had tested positive for banned substances.

The American Gay, who has withdrawn from the world championships in Moscow next month, blamed a "type of accident" for his positive sample, which came in an out-of-competition test on 16 May.

"I don't have any lies," he said. "I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down. The [authorities] already know it is some type of accident. I know exactly what went on but I can't discuss it right now." Read more.
Gay refused to say what the banned substance, or who the person, was. "I can't really say it," he said. "Sometimes a human being naturally, generally trusts somebody. That's what people do."

It was later confirmed that five Jamaicans – including two Olympic gold medallists in Powell and Sherone Simpson – had failed drugs tests at last month's national championships. The other three were a junior athlete and two throwers.

Usain Bolt's agent, Ricky Simms, categorically insisted that the Olympic 100m champion was not under any suspicion. "I was just with him in Jamaica and we've had no information and we've not been contacted by anyone," he said. "It is not anyone that I'm connected with."

According to sources at the Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper: "The sprinters might have ingested the banned substance from a new dietary supplement recently introduced to their training camp. It is understood that one of the athletes had done extensive research on the supplement before taking it, and is now considering legal action against the supplier."

The Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) chairman, Herb Elliott, confirmed the body had received "reports of adverse analytical findings from "A" samples".

"The process of the result management has commenced in accordance with the JADCO Anti-doping rules," he told Reuters. "We cannot disclose any further information until the athletes have responded to notification of the "A" sample."

Powell's agent, Paul Doyle, confirmed that his client had failed a test, and Simpson issued a statement apologising for "any hurt or embarrassment this positive test may of caused" but insisting she did not knowingly take the stimulant oxilofrine.

Powell helped the Jamaicans to the 400m relay gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and was the last man to hold the individual 100m record before his countryman Usain Bolt broke it earlier that year. Simpson won Olympic gold in the women's 400m relay in 2004 and silver in 2012, along with an individual silver in the 100m in 2008.

Last month Jamaica's most successful female athlete, Veronica Campbell-Brown, tested positive for a diuretic, which can be used to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The twice Olympic 200m champion has been suspended by the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association pending the outcome of a disciplinary panel hearing.

Gay is the second-fastest man of all time, having set the American 100m record of 9.69 seconds in 2009. He has struggled since then with groin and hip injuries, the later of which required surgery, but after an injury-free winter he had run 9.75sec this season and won the 100m and 200m trials at the US championships. Now, though, he becomes the latest in a long line of sprinters to test positive.

"My career and my name have always been better than medals or records or anything like that," he said.

"I've always wanted a clean name with anything. I will take whatever punishment I get like a man," he added. "I do realise and respect what I put in my body and it is my responsibility. I'm going to be honest with Usada, about everything, everybody I've been with, every supplement I've ever taken, every company I've ever dealt with, everything."