World 100-meter champion suspended for missing drug tests
Washington: Christian Coleman, the reigning world champion in the 100-meter dash, was suspended Wednesday by the Athletics Integrity Unit for missing drug tests.
The AIU updated its list of athletes on provisional suspension to include Coleman, hours after the American sprinter revealed details of the case.
He is temporarily banned from competition until a final decision at a hearing conducted under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules or the Integrity Code of Conduct.
Coleman said earlier on Twitter that drug testers were unable to find him Dec. 9 while he was at a nearby mall Christmas shopping. That was his third infraction in a 12-month period.
Athletes are required to list their whereabouts for an hour each day when they must be available to be tested.
A violation means an athlete either did not fill out forms telling authorities where they could be found, or that they weren't where they said they would be when testers arrived.
Coleman is a favorite for Olympic gold in the 100-meter dash heading into the Tokyo Games that have been postponed to next summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He said in his post he's been appealing the latest missed test for six months with the AIU, which runs the anti-doping program for World Athletics.
He explained there was no record of anyone coming to his home and that if he had been called he was only five minutes away. It's the second time Coleman has faced a potential ban for a whereabouts violation.
Coleman won the 100 meters at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, last September after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency dropped his case for missed tests because of a technicality.
"I have never and will never use performance enhancing supplements or drugs," Coleman wrote Tuesday. "I am willing to take a drug test EVERY single day for the rest of my career for all I care to prove my innocence."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Drone crashes near Erbil airport in northern Iraq, Al Jazeera reports
Erbil: A drone has crashed near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq, local media reports said, as cited by Al Jazeera.
According to the reports, a large plume of smoke was seen rising from the area where the drone struck. No further details are currently available.
Al Jazeera also reported that its correspondent reported that Erbil airport, located in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, was targeted twice as part of Iran’s response to attacks by Israel and the United States. Local reports cited by the news network added that air defences in Iraq intercepted the drone attacks.
