Crowne critical of USADA’s 30-day ban on Richardson

Sports lawyer Dr Emir Crowne says the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) 30-day ban imposed on American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson is too light.

The body sanctioned Richardson on Monday, June 28, after she tested positive for 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (Carboxy-THC), a urinary metabolite of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis or marijuana.

The result was achieved from a sample collected in competition at the US Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, June 19.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) classified marijuana as a “Substance of Abuse” on January 1 because it is frequently used in society outside the context of sport.

But while Crowne says that he does not believe that marijuana should be deemed a banned substance, that is not his issue.

“It’s the politics of the prohibitive list that we’re getting into,” Crowne, based in Canada, told The Sunday Gleaner. “There’s no way marijuana should be a prohibitive substance, let alone the fact that WADA is based in Montreal, Canada, where weed is completely legal.

“Besides that point, what I think is missing from the discourse is the ban that USADA slapped her with is a month. I find that interesting. Is she eligible to compete in the Olympics?”

The answer to that question is yes, but the details are technical.

At the Trials, Richardson ran a wind-aided 10.64 seconds in the semi-final before returning roughly 90 minutes later to clock 10.86s in the final.

However, her positive result means those performances have been automatically disqualified.

This, coupled with the ban, means Richards is ineligible to compete in the heats of the women’s 100m event at the Olympics on the first day of athletics, Friday, July 30.

However, reports are that United States of America Track and Field (USATF, America’s athletics governing body) is considering Richardson for a place on its 4x100m relay team, which competes in its heat on Thursday, August 5.

This will be just over a week after Richardson’s ban expires.

Being on the US relay team does not require an athlete to have qualified from the 100m sprints. USATF merely requires that an athlete participates at the Trials.

USADA says Richardson’s period of ineligibility was reduced because her use of cannabis occurred out of competition and was unrelated to sport performance, and she has successfully completed a counselling programme regarding the use of cannabis. It says her one-month period of ineligibility, the minimum allowed under the rules, is the same result as the two other Substance of Abuse cases that USADA has handled since the 2021 Code took effect.

CONVENIENT TIMING

Crowne, however, finds the timing convenient.

“Some might say that that’s a rather light ban, particularly in an Olympic year,” he said. “Also, one wonders if other anti-doping bodies would have been heavily criticised for offering such a lenient period of suspension.

“Imagine if it was a Jamaican athlete, and JADCO (Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission) had offered that athlete a one-month ban so that the ban is up and the athlete could compete, nationally, in the relay. Wouldn’t the world have lost its mind?

“But when it’s an American athlete, suddenly public sympathy is on the athlete’s side. I find that to be a very interesting part of the whole play, as it were.”

Crowne says that it is likely that Richardson, although provisionally suspended, may face no further sanction but there is still room for future interference from WADA.

“My take on it is the case is done,” he said. “They’ve offered her a settlement of a one-month ban and she’s taking it. She’s accepted the doping sanction. So, from what I can see, that’s it, there’s nothing else. WADA could still appeal it to CAS (the Court of Arbitration for Sport) and say ‘We don’t think one month is enough,’ but I think that’s basically it.”

Richardson said in an interview with NBC’s Today Show on Friday that her use of marijuana was to deal with the death of her biological mother a week before the Trials. She also used the platform to apologise to the public for her anti-doping violation.

rachid.parchment@gleanerjm.com