The anticipation over the verdict in doping case of Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown is over. The disciplinary panel that heard her case ruled today that she should be given a public warning, on the grounds that she did not use a banned substance for performance enhancement and that the offence was not among the most serious. She is now free to resume competition.
Campbell-Brown, a two-time Olympic 200m gold medalist, returned an adverse analytical finding at the May 4 Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston, testing positive for the diuretic furosemide, a prohibited substance often marketed under the name Lasix. Diuretics can be used to mask performance-enhancing drugs.
While the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association has yet to publish the full text of its ruling, the administration is expected to send it to the track and field international governing body, the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations).
As speculations swirled around the finding, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told The Associated Press in a text message last June that “although we would not normally comment on active cases (we) would simply remind media to keep (a) sense of perspective – all evidence seems to point to this offense being a lesser one.”
Campbell-Brown has been one of the sport’s biggest female global stars for more than a decade.