Jamacian duo Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles champion Kaliese Spencer and world championship relay medallist Riker Hylton have been charged with breaching anti-doping rules, Jamaican athletics officials have confirmed.
“We have been advised by JADCO [Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission] that athletes Kaliese Spencer and Riker Hylton have been referred to the Independent Anti Doping Disciplinary Panel for a hearing to be conducted in accordance with Article 8 of the JADCO Anti-doping Rules 2015,” the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association said in a statement.
“Both athletes are alleged to have violated article 2.3 of the said rules which speaks to ‘Evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection’.”
Under the rules laid out by the World Anti-Doping Agency, “evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection” carried a maximum penalty of a four-year suspension.
Spencer won gold at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, one place ahead of Britain’s Eilidh Doyle.
The Jamaican 400m hurdles specialist has strongly refuted the allegations in a statement reading:
“The Management Team of Ms Kaliese Spencer wishes to inform the public that recently Miss Spencer was notified by JADCO of an alleged violation of JADCO’s anti-doping rules.
“Ms Spencer categorically refutes any assertion that she has refused or evaded a drug test. This allegation is simply false, as Ms Spencer has always made herself available to be tested by JADCO. Ms Spencer’s Management and Legal teams view this alleged violation as entirely baseless and intends to pursue all legal channels necessary to protect her good name and her reputation as a true ambassador of Jamaica.”
The 2011 World Championship 4x400m bronze medallist, Hylton has claimed that JADCO falsely stated that he declined to provide a sample and that he had not being properly notified that he had been selected for testing.
“Honestly they [JADCO] never did their job properly because they were supposed to make the person know that you were selected to be drug tested and they did not let me know that,” Hylon said, claiming that he only found out that he had been accused of declining to provide a sample after he had left the stadium.
