Caribbean360: St Kitts Olympian sent home for possible drug violation

St Kitts Olympian sent home for possible drug violation
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Chris Hoyos on 01/08/2012 11:10:00
 
LONDON, England, Wednesday August 01, 2012 — Sprinter Tameka Williams is now
back in St Kitts after being sent home from the London Olympics by her team for
a potential drug violation.
The St Kitts and Nevis record sprinter had been using a substance which was
“clearly outside the medical code,” according to St Kitts Olympic committee
vice president Dennis Knight.
Williams had not tested positive for a banned substance, but the team acted
after consulting with the World Anti-Doping Agency “to find out about the
product,” Knight told the media.
“In discussions with our team management, she volunteered to them that she had
been using a particular substance which, when we did our own investigations, we
considered to be outside the accepted medical code,” Knight revealed.
The St Kitts 100m and 200m record holder told team officials about using the
substance — which the team has not disclosed — in a pre-Olympics training
camp.
“It was a matter of the management of the team doing their due diligence,”
Knight said.
The 22-year-old Williams had qualified for the 100 and 200 meters, and gave
samples for anti-doping tests at national Olympic trials last month.
“It was not based on any positive drug test. She turned up a clean test,”
Knight said.
Williams marched at the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday as the only woman in
a seven-member team from St Kitts and Nevis, all of whom are all track
sprinters. The best known is five-time Olympian Kim Collins.
Knight said St Kitts team officials sought expert advice in London before acting
and removing Williams from competition.
“We wanted to consult with the anti-doping fraternity,” he said. “We are a
very tiny country with limited knowledge of these things.”
Williams is the third athlete sent home over doping cases at the Games. Uzbek
gymnast Luiza Galiulina and Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku both failed tests
for banned substances.
More than a dozen athletes have also been expelled for pre-competition offences.
The World Anti-Doping Authority has said London will be the most stringently
policed games yet with more than 6,000 tests carried out during the event. Click
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