Police raid Jamaican sprinters' hotel

Italian police have confiscated substances from the hotel where disgraced Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson were staying.

Police raid Jamaican sprinters' hotel

Italian police confiscated unknown substances in a raid on the hotel where Asafa Powell was staying.

Italian police confiscated unknown substances on Monday in a raid on the hotel where Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson were staying after each tested positive for banned stimulants.

Rooms of the athletes and physical trainer Christopher Xuereb of Canada were searched and drugs and muscle supplements were seized, Udine police captain Antonio Pisapia said.

Pisapia said it was unclear if the drugs and muscle supplements were legal or illicit and that the substances were being analysed.

"We are examining the substances now," Pisapia said. "No arrests have been made and nobody has been placed under investigation."

Meanwhile, discus thrower Allison Randall acknowledged that she was one of the five Jamaican athletes who tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican championships last month, along with former 100m world record holder Powell and Simpson.

Randall holds the island nation's discus record and competed at the London Olympics.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association issued a brief statement on Monday saying an anti-doping management process has started for the athletes. It did not identify the two other athletes who tested positive.

Both Powell and Simpson train under Stephen Francis, a coach at the high-profile MVP Track and Field Club in Jamaica.

Francis has blamed the positive tests on Xuereb.

"We are not disowning Asafa, we are just saying this relates to his personal employee. The trainer has nothing to do with MVP," Francis said.

Francis said he told Powell to only trust people who were with him from the start.

"If you are going to sink, sink with people who were always around," he said.

The raid at the Fra i Pini hotel in Lignano Sabbiadoro in northeastern Italy came in stark contrast to the usual warm reception that the runners generally receive in Lignano, and the town's mayor, Luca Fanotto, recommended "caution" before drawing conclusions.

A local athletics meet is scheduled for Tuesday in Lignano and the Jamaicans had been scheduled to compete as they do most years. However, neither Powell nor Simpson were on start lists released on Monday.

The news of the positive tests for Powell and Simpson came the same day that American 100m record holder Tyson Gay revealed that he also failed a doping test.

Powell was the last man to hold the 100m world record before Usain Bolt broke it in 2008.

Simpson is a three-time Olympic sprint medallist.


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Source: AAP


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