Jamaican Campbell-Brown tests positive

KINGSTON - Agence France-Presse

Veronica Campbell-Brown (L) leads McLaughlin to the finish line at the women’s 200 meters final at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York on May 25. REUTERS photo

Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown has tested positive for a banned drug and won’t defend her 200-meter world title this year, Jamaican media reported June 15.

The Gleaner newspaper and Television Jamaica both reported that the sprinter tested positive for the banned diuretic lasix, although an official with the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association said the federation had been notified only that a Jamaican athlete’s “A” sample had tested positive.

The JAAA official could not confirm the gender of the athlete, the substance discovered by the test nor whether the backup “B” sample had also tested positive.

The government minister with responsibility for sports Natalie Neita Headley stressed the country’s commitment to anti-doping as she urged star athletes to “remain focused” ahead of Jamaica’s world championship trials June 21-23.

“We await the outcome of the due process. We continue to be proud of our rich sporting history and tradition and of all of our athletes who give of their best in representing Jamaica in the various sporting disciplines locally and internationally,” she said in a statement that did not mention any athlete by name.

“We encourage our athletes to remain focused and disciplined during this time of the staging of our national Junior and Senior Championships.”