Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell fail drug tests

The hype is over.

Track&Field fans who anxiously anticipated a showdown between the world's fastest man Usain Bolt and a finally healthy Tyson Gay at this year's world championships will not get the match-up. Gay, the second fastest man in history has withdrawn from competition after testing positive for a banned substance.

Gay isn't the only big name athlete who's tested positive for a banned substance. Olympic medalists Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter and Sherone Simpson are among five Jamaican athletes who registered positive tests.

Gay, the American 100m record-holder, told the Associated Press via phone on Sunday that he had been informed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency late last week about a positive result from an out-of-competition test on May 16. He did not reveal the substance, but said he is cooperating with a USADA investigation and will await the result of his "B" sample, which could be tested as early as this week. He qualified for the 100m and 200m at next month's world championships in Moscow and had the fastest time in the 100 this year.

Tyson Gay tested positive for an unnamed banned substance

Powell, the fourth fastest man in history at the 100m, and training partner Simpson tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican nationals in June. It could likely be considered a minor infraction or inadvertent use, which carries a shortened suspension, but both will assuredly miss the championships where Powell figured to be part of the 4x100 relay team and Simpson was set to compete in the 100m and 4 x100m relay. Simpson, a silver medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games, finished second in 100m at the Jamaican nationals.

Powell is also cooperating, he said, "with the relevant agencies and law enforcement authorities to discover how the substance got in my system."

Asafa Powell (right) and Nesta Carter (2nd from right) pictured with Michael Frater (left) and Usain Bolt, were on the 400m relay winning team at the 2008 Olympic Games. Powell and Carter failed recent drug tests.

Carter, a member of Powell's MVP training club, has been a staple on the Jamaican relay team for many years, helping the team to gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. The two other athletes are reportedly field athletes, but have not been identified.

Athletes are ultimately accountable for whatever they ingest or allow to be massaged onto their bodies. So it is commendable to see both Gay and Powell accept full responsibilities for the failed tests. Gay's mea culpa to the Associated Press, however, came with a questionable comment.

"I don't have a sabotage story. I don't have any lies. I don't have anything to say to make this seem like it was a mistake or it was on USADA's hands, someone playing games," said Gay, who fought back sobs when speaking to the AP reporter. "I don't have any of those stories. I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down."

When the average person talks about trusting someone, it likely refers to vouching for the good character of a person. Very rarely does it actually mean trusting a person with your life. When a T&F athlete uses the same words, it carries a career life or death implication. Why is this important? When you look up the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances, it reads like a laundry list of chemical substances needed for the next great scientific invention.

Athletes have been suspended for substances as minor as Oxycodone, the pain medication that caused Jamaican Olympic gold medalist Shelly-ann Fraser-Pryce a six-month suspension Or ExtenZe, the male enhancement product that earned 400m Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt a 21-month ban, to THG, the previously unknown substance known as "The Clear," which took down many notable athletes in several sports.

So it's not uncommon for athletes to rely on a team of trusted people such as coaches, trainers and doctors, who they've worked with for years and who realize how important it is to monitor what goes into the athlete's body. It doesn't mean athletes turn a blind eye to everything, but after several years of competing under such immense pressure to be cognizant of the hundreds of banned substances, it's not unusual to let their guards down and place more trust in their team to help meet these stipulations. Most of these helpers earn their income through the athlete, so it's a reasonable assumption that they should be looking out for the best interest of the athlete.

Sherone Simpson won silver in the 100m at the 2008 Olympic Games

When 2004 Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder Justin Gatlin tested positive at a meet for an excessive amount of testosterone, he cried sabotage by a massage therapist within his team who rubbed the cream on his legs. Hardly anyone believed him and his far-fetched excuse, but I always wondered why anyone would be bold enough to use an excessive amount of testosterone, one of the most commonly tested drugs out there, at a meeting where you are guaranteed to be tested before and after events. But athletes' defense usually doesn't matter because once you fail a test, your reputation is forever called into question. You are a cheat. Ultimately, Gatlin's then-coach Trevor Graham was handed a lifetime ban for his involvement in the BALCO/THG scandal, which Gatlin had no ties to. It's impossible to know if Gatlin is cheating his way through meets once again, but since he hasn't tested positive, we have to assume he is clean. He served a four-year suspension and has slowly climbed back to the elite class of sprinters despite an initial ban from European meets and strong opposition from T&F fans who didn't want a "cheat" getting a shot at redemption. He maintains his innocence to this day.

As fans, we shouldn't turn a blind eye to the possibility that these athletes did in fact cheat. If talented sprinters like Jones could do it, then surely others can. But when you look at the caliber of athletes who have received warnings or suspensions for minor infractions– Veronica Campbell-Brown, Yohan Blake, Ato Bolden to name a few–it begs the possibility that some of these athletes are merely victims of accidental use or of "trusting someone."

This is not an attempt to make excuses for these athletes. I would like a clear-cut system that separates the obvious cheats from the accidental ones. But no one cares. Once an athlete's name is linked to a banned substance, the circumstance hardly matters, the athlete is forever linked to drug use.

It isn't a case of naivety on my part either. I believe a fair number of athletes knowingly try to cheat their way to success. I have my suspicions about some (no, I won't name anyone publicly,) but there's no proof until they register a positive test. Meanwhile, that heightened excitement when eight of the fastest men or women in the world line up side by side to race for 10-11 seconds is slowly dying with each elite athlete that fails a test because fans no longer trust athletes.

When news of the recent failed tests were announced, I thought back to a conversation I had with a close friend several years ago. He was a Nigerian-born, U.S. collegiate scholarship athlete, who went on to represent his mother's country at several international events. But on that day we spoke, he was a very sick human being who was barely audible as he coughed, wheezed and snorted his way through our conversation. I asked him if he had taken medication and he said he doesn't take any medication. "Not even aspirin?" I asked. "Not even," he responded. He didn't take any multivitamins or supplements and obsessively scanned any new drinks he was offered. It was the only way he could guarantee that he wouldn't get any surprise failed drug tests, he said. After a few more comments from me, he admitted that even that was not enough because every time he ate outside of his home, he had to entertain the possibility that his food could be tainted with something that could trigger a positive result.

They are professional athletes. They are responsible for their bodies. But they are human beings as well. And just like us, none of them can go at it alone. Ultimately, every one of these athletes has had to trust someone else to help them attain success. Unfortunately, some have trusted the wrong people and have had to pay the price for it. But haven't we all been there at some point in our lives?


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Where are they now? Merlene Ottey

While in college, I started a sports column called "Where are they now?" to update readers on what notable athletes have been up to since retiring or fading away from the limelight. It's a series I've decided to start on my blog, including notables from the sports and entertainment world.

My first entry on this series is on Jamaican-born track queen Merlene Ottey, who many may remember for her photo-finish loss to American Gail Devers at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Both women finished in 10.94s, but were separated by 5,000th of a second. Remarkably it wasn't their closest finish. Both were separated by 100th of a second running 10.81s at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, the closest every finish at an international track & field meet.

Merlene Ottey, left, finished second to Gail Devers in this photo finish at the 1996 Olympic Games

Born in 1970, Ottey made her first world championship appearance in 1983. Yes, she's been piling up medals since Florence Griffith-Joyner dominated the sprints. She became Jamaica's most decorated female T&F athlete, amassing nine Olympic (three silvers and six bronzes) and 14 World Championship medals by 1997.

Ottey's legendary status took a hit in 1999 when she tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone at a July meet in Switzerland. She denied knowingly taking any banned substance, which she maintains to this day.

"I have lived my personal and athletic life with the utmost honesty and integrity," Ottey said in a statement released after her positive test. "I have applied only the highest ethical standards to myself and expect the same from others. I have always proclaimed fairness in sports and adamantly oppose the use of banned substances."

The IAAF, the sport's governing body, banned Ottey for two years, but withdrew the suspension when it was determined that too much time had passed before her "B" sample was tested.

Jamaican-born Merlene Ottey now competes for Slovenia

Today the 53-year-old Ottey remains a competitive athlete for Slovenia and has no desire to quit running. She was a member of Slovenia's 4x100m relay team at the 2012 European Championships and has been training for next month's World Championships in Moscow.

"It's my goal and we will see what happens," Ottey told the Jamaican Gleaner in February, about making Slovenia's team. "One day, probably I will stop. I came in and surprised everybody and surprised the world but I don't want to go out like that."

Merlene Ottey, 53, at a press conference in Jamaica in February

 She may have a point. Ottey's slowest time in the 100m is 11.96s, which posted as a 52-year-old. It may not be good enough to make it to the final of any race on the tour, but is still a respectable time that could get her on a weak team like Slovenia.

And if she can do that, why stop now?

Covering Michelle Obama event

Over the weekend, I covered Michelle Obama's education forum and MTV Base Meets Google+ Hangout in Newtown, Johannesburg, and witnessed first hand why the first lady of the United States is a beloved and well respected celebrity in much of the world.

Flanked by four South African youths, Michelle Obama fielded education-related questions from MTV Base DJ Sizwe. Youths from four U.S. cities--New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Kansas City, Missouri, exchanged viewpoints with their South African counterparts. Grammy award-winning singer John Legend sat in on the discussion with students from Los Angeles.

Michelle Obama at the Sci-Bono Discovery Center in Johannesburg

With daughters Malia and Sasha in the audience and 225 young adults listening, the first lady challenged youths to take more risks and not be afraid to fail because they would recover from them.

"I want to ask you all to think about what barriers will you break down? What legacy will you leave for the next generation?" she said.

She called for youths across the world to share ideas with each other, establishing communication and developing relationships that cross national boundaries.

The first lady, known as much for various causes including championing youth education and fitness as she is for her fashion choices, shared her story about growing up without wealth and facing doubts about her ability to succeed. She went on to earn degrees from Princeton and Harvard universities. She hoped that her and U.S. president Barack Obama's stories would inspire others to establish dreams and work at fulfilling them.

She was incredibly comfortable cracking jokes with the teenagers and wasn't hasty in her departure, despite the heightened security surrounding her presence. And from a fashion perspective, she donned a blouse by Nigerian designer Maki Oh (as a Nigerian, I had to throw this in the mix,) no doubt raising the profile of the rising designer.

I've been asked by family and friends if I got a chance to meet her personally and I can only answer that with an "I wish." Still, I left the event feeling like I had shared some one-on-one time with one of "my girls" and not one of the most powerful women in the world.

If you'd like to read my news story on the event, click here