Former US sprint champion Tyson Gay, who was banned for one year for using anabolic steroid, has joined the camp of sprint coach John Smith, according to Gay’s agent Mark Wetmore, a March 20 ESPN.com report said.
Gay was banned in 2013 and stripped of his 2012 London Olympic silver medal that he won as a member of the sprint relay team. His new coaching association is in sync the beginning of this year’s outdoor track season and could be in preparation to compete at the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June for a place on the national team that would represent the United States at the Beijing World Championships in August.
He will join a list of current stars trained by Smith, among them: Carmelita Jeter, Jason Richardson and Ryan Bailey.
Gay was suspended for a year, after testing positive for a steroid precursor DHEA that would allow him to run pain-free in London. His punishment was watered-down to a year as a result of his cooperating with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) investigation into the case, and giving up information that led to USADA’s case against Drummond.
The shortened ban ended on June 22, 2014, and Gay returned to competition at a Lausanne Diamond League meeting on July 3.
Meanwhile, track coach Jon Drummond, with whom Gay was working until 2012, received an eight-year doping ban after arbitrators found a series of discussions between Gay and Drummond, convincing Gay to take the banned substance and carrying it to Europe for him, the Associated Press (AP) reported December 17, 2014. Gay stopped working with Drummond after the London Olympics.
The 46-year-old Drummond also served as relay coach for the U.S. track team at the London Olympics and as chairman of the athletes’ advisory committee for USA Track and Field.
Wanted Pain-free
According to the AP report, “a 23-page summary of the case details the trip Drummond and Gay took to Atlanta to meet Dr. Clayton Gibson in June 2012, shortly after Gay competed in the 100m Olympic trials and complained he could not run pain-free.”
Drummond reportedly told investigators that Gay wanted to run pain-free and he, Drummond simply said, “Well, the only thing we’ve got left is Dr. Gibson.”
The report further noted that, according to the testimony, at Gibson’s office, Drummond and Gay were shown creams labeled “Testosterone/DHEA,” “HGH” and “Progesterone Cream.” Gibson allegedly assured Drummond and Gay that, despite the labeling, the creams were all natural and there was no way they could test positive using them.
Gay, however, then tested positive and returned the silver medal he won for the relay in London. A potential two-year ban was reduced to one because he cooperated with USADA.
Drummond subsequently filed a lawsuit against Gay and USADA for defamation, for which U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued a stay in the case until an arbitrator made a ruling. He ruled that Drummond’s defamation claims are related to the ongoing arbitration over the proposed lifetime ban, noting that the case could return to his court depending on the outcome of arbitration.