KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A disciplinary panel of Jamaica’s anti-doping agency has started at least two days of hearings into a positive test for a banned substance by sprinter Sherone Simpson.
Testifying Tuesday before a three-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission, Simpson insisted Tuesday she was “no cheat.”
The Olympic 400 relay gold and silver medalist, along with former 100-meter world-record holder Asafa Powell, tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrone at the national championships in June.
Simpson says she believes a supplement provided by newly-hired trainer Christopher Xuereb was responsible for her positive test. She says she researched the “Epiphany D1” supplement for hours online before taking it and “nothing I read raised a red flag or an alarm bell.”
But a lawyer for Jamaica’s anti-doping agency contends that Simpson was “significantly negligent.”