Jamaican jumper gets four-year doping ban
Published:Friday | June 10, 2022 | 12:13 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Jamaican triple jumper Sabina Allen has been handed a four-year ban by an independent arbitrator for testing positive for two prohibited substances.
Allen, 27, who lives and trains in the United States, tested positive for phentermine and di-hydroxy-LGD-4033 from her urine sample collected on May 29, 2021, after winning the triple jump at the Chula Vista Field Festival in California. Phentermine is classified as a stimulant which is prohibited in competition, while LGD-4033 is a non-specified substance in the class of Anabolic Agent and is prohibited at all times under United States doping regulations and World Athletics Anti-Doping rules.
The decision, which was handed down yesterday, concluded that Allen’s “varied explanations for the positive result for phentermine failed to establish that her use was unintentional”. Additionally, the arbitrator determined that the supplement which contained the LGD-4033, and which she provided for review, showed “signs of probable manipulation – not contamination through the manufacturing process”.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) credited the use of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA) in getting the required information that resulted in the decision.
“Information shared by law enforcement from the first RADA case involving Eric Lira allowed USADA to expose the truth in this case. We thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and other federal agencies, for their continued work to protect the integrity of sport under RADA,” USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a release yesterday.
RADA, which was signed into law in December 2020, gave American prosecutors authority to pursue anyone who conspires to cheat in major sporting events. The act faced criticism from the World Anti-Doping Agency stating that no other nation has extra-territorial jurisdiction in this field.
Allen’s ban began on June 24, 2021, the date that her provisional suspension started, and will be eligible to return to competition in 2025.
The former Vere Technical athlete represented Jamaica at the 2012 Carifta Games in Bermuda and won the Under-20 triple jump.