Botswana 400m sprinter Amantle Montsho has been suspended from the sport pending further investigation, having failed a doping test.
The Commonwealth Games fourth-placer was found to have the banned substance Methylhexaneamine in her body.
Montsho, 31, made the final of the women’s 400m, but narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing one hundredth of a second behind bronze medallist Christine Day – who formed part of a Jamaican 1-2-3, with Stephanie McPherson and Novleve Williams-Mill taking first and second respectively.
The Commonwealth Games Federation have released a statement explaining Montsho’s situation:
“The athlete’s A sample was found to contain Methylhexaneamine, prohibited as a stimulant under class s6 of Wada’s Prohibited List.
“Upon receipt of the analysis of the athlete’s B sample, the court will reconvene to consider the matter further.”
Methylhexaneamine, the substance in question, was initially created as a nasal decongestant, but has body stimulating and fat burning properties and is therefore prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
This is the third case of a drug violation that has come about during the Commonwealth Games, and the second of a participating athlete. Wales co-captain Rhys Williams was forced to pull out on the eve of the games, after it emerged that he had ingested a banned substance.
While 16-year-old weightlifter Chika Amalaha, who finished first in the women’s 53kg category, was also discovered to have competed under the influence of a banned diuretic and masking agent and therefore stripped of her gold medal.
Montsho had expressed a desire to quit athletics following the conclusion of the 2016 Olympics games in Rio, and adopt her favoured pastime – basketball.
