JADCO apologises over missed World Record
Published:Thursday | June 2, 2022 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
CHAIRMAN OF the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) Alexander Williams said his organisation was at fault for yesterday’s announcement that an under-20 girls’ 4x100m time set at the Carifta Games in April would not be ratified by track and field governing body World Athletics.
Jamaica’s 42.58-second clocking has been rejected by World Athletics because one of the four members of the quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston, and Tia Clayton was not drug tested at the completion of the race on April 17 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Williams told The Gleaner yesterday that his organisation failed to follow through on specific guidelines and protocols as they had been instructed to by the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA). As such, the JADCO chairman said his organisation takes full responsibility for the error.
“The international standard for testing does not bar JADCO from testing an athlete twice within a 24-hour period. This was a directive that exists in JADCO, unbeknown to me until this moment that if you test one time, you don’t test within 24 hours, and apparently, this is what led to the decision not to test this particular athlete on the 17th, after she was tested on the 16th [April],” said Williams.
“This is an explanation and not an excuse. JADCO dropped the ball on this, and JADCO is at fault,” he said.
“I want to apologise to the JAAA, to the athletes, and to Jamaica for this blunder because it is a blunder. It is far-reaching, and I am going to do all that I can to ensure this does not happen again,” said Williams.
DOCUMENTS SENT FOR RATIFICATION
The JAAA said that after the record-breaking run, the performance, along with supporting documents, were sent to World Athletics for ratification, but it was pointed out to them that Tina Clayton was not tested on the night of the world-record performance.
“It is a fact that all 4 (four) athletes were notified by the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO) officials and presented themselves to the anti-doping station within the required time window to be tested,” the JAAA said in a release yesterday.
“Unfortunately, JADCO took the decision, unknown to the JAAA and the NACAC’s Anti-Doping Delegate, not to test the athlete based on a JADCO standard. This was in direct contradiction to oral and written instructions by the JAAA,” read the release.
“It is to be noted that JADCO is the agency that performs anti-doping testing on our athletes both in and out of competition on behalf of the JAAA and was contracted to do so at the NACAC 2022 Carifta Games,” said the JAAA.
Meanwhile, Michael Dyke, who is the coach of three members of the record-breaking team at Edwin Allen High School, namely Cole, Tia, and Tina, said he was saddened by the decision taken by World Athletics.
“I am, naturally, disappointed because we would have celebrated this record already and come and hear this at this moment. It has really put a damper on the young ladies who would have done so well and been highlighted all over the world,” said Dyke.
Despite this, Jamaica still holds the Under-20 world record, which they set at the 2021 World Under-20 Championships in Kenya in August of 2021.
That team, made up of Cole, Tina and Tia, and Kerrica Hill, established a time of 42.94.