World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief executive David Howman said Wednesday that Jamaica’s testing system was now “back in place” following the controversial case of Veronica Campbell-Brown.
The two-time Olympic 200 metres champion tested positive for the specified substance hydrochlorothiazide last May, but she argued the urine sample collected had been compromised and saw a two-year ban overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Howman, speaking at the Tackling Doping in Sport conference at London’s Wembley Stadium, explained that while he’d only seen a summary of the CAS decision it was concerning all the same.
“The brief release indicates a deficiency in anti-doping sample collection that is very basic,” said Howman.
“That’s not only disappointing, it just hasn’t happened for 10 years. I don’t think I need to say any more than that.”
However, WADA has twice visited Jamaica, one of the world’s leading sprint nations, since November and Howman was encouraged by the Caribbean island’s current anti-doping procedures.
“They’ve done exactly what we’ve asked them to do to put their programme back into place,” he said.
“That doesn’t remedy what happened in Campbell-Brown — and they’ve still got a number of other decisions in the pipeline that we don’t know about — but it will mean as we go forward they should have a national anti-doping programme back to the days it was in 2011 and early 2012.
“That’s important for Jamaica and it’s important for us to oversee it because of the international interest and the international abilities that they’ve got in athletics.
“What we’re trying to do now is go to those countries with a team to show them how they can conduct result management quicker and effectively, because some lapse into a total judicial approach.”
Campbell-Brown’s is not the only high-profile doping case involving Jamaican athletes.
Asafa Powell, the former 100m world record holder, and Sherone Simpson both tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine and have since been suspended.
The pair are still waiting to discover their punishments.