United States Olympic Committee announce its men's relay have been disqualified from the 4x100-metre race at London 2012 Olympic Games

The entire United States men’s 4 x 100 metres team have been stripped of their silver medals from the London 2012 Olympics due to Tyson Gay’s drugs ban, it was announced on Wednesday night.

Gay, a double world champion and the second fastest 100m runner of all time, served a one-year ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in June 2013. He had already returned his London 2012 medal when the suspension was announced last May, but the International Olympic Committee has now ordered the entire team to be stripped of their medals.

Justin Gatlin, who has also twice tested positive for drugs during his career, Trell Kimmons and Ryan Bailey will now be forced to return the silver medals they won in London, as well as Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton, who ran in the heats.

“As expected, following Usada’s [US Anti-Doping Agency] decision in the Tyson Gay case, the IOC today confirmed that the US team has been disqualified from the 4 x 100m race,” said USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky. “We will begin efforts to have the medals returned, and support all measures to protect clean athletes.”

All of Gay’s results from July 2012 – the month before the London Games – had been annulled as a result of his ban and a USA Track and Field spokesman said the decision to strip the entire team of the medals was no surprise.

The US team set a national record time of 37.04 sec in the final, finishing behind Jamaica, who broke the world record anchored by Usain Bolt.

If the relay medals are reallocated Trinidad and Tobago would be upgraded from bronze to silver, while France would take their bronze medals.

While the IOC has varied in the past on stripping medals from relay squads, the IAAF rule in place for London 2012 stated that all relay members would lose their medals if there was a doping violation.

Gay was given a reduced ban for co-operating with Usada – a decision that Bolt last month labelled “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”.

He said: “I was really upset about that. He got a year just because he talked to the authorities about how it was done and who helped him. That sends the wrong message: ‘If you do it and get caught, just tell us all you know and we’ll lower your ban.’ It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The message should be: ‘If you cheat you’re going to be kicked out of the sport.’

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T&T men’s sprint relay team, which won bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, may be upgraded again after the entire US relay team was stripped of its silver medal yesterday as a result of Tyson Gay’s doping case, two officials with knowledge of the decision as reported by the Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.

The International Olympic Committee notified the US Olympic Committee by letter that the 4x100 relay team has been disqualified and all the medals withdrawn, the officials said. The letter asks the USOC to collect the medals and return them to the IOC.

Gay returned his own medal last year after accepting a one-year doping suspension and the loss of results going back to July 2012, but the status of the US second-place finish in London and the medals of Gay’s relay teammates had remained in limbo until now.

President of T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) Brian Lewis yesterday said that he has received no official confirmation on the development.

“I haven’t seen a report from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but we are looking forward to the official confirmation. We have to wait on the IOC to do additional deliberation, to confirm whether or not the silver medal will be reallocated,” said Lewis.

Under international rules, an entire team can be disqualified and stripped of medals because of doping by one member.

Gay was a member of the American team that finished second in London behind a Jamaican team anchored by Usain Bolt. The Americans set a national record in the final with a time of 37.04 seconds.

The other US team members losing medals are Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton. Kimmons, Gatlin and Bailey ran in the final with Gay.

It will be a second upgrade for local quartet of Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender and Richard Thompson, who some three years ago moved from fourth to third after the Canadian team of Justyn Warner, Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith and Jared Connaughton, running the third leg and on the final turn, had taken one step on the lane line, earning the team an automatic disqualification.

Lewis was adamant about the TTOC joining with the global anti-doping community, with a clear focus on protecting the clean athlete.

“TTOC has been rigourous in protecting the rights of the clean athlete and this development only highlights the need to do so.”

Gatlin, who is in Qatar for the opening Diamond League meet of the season tomorrow, told AP that he was not aware of the decision and had no comment. Gatlin, who won the 100-meter gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games, served a four-year doping ban from 2006.

Gay tested positive for steroids at the US championships in 2013. He received a reduced suspension—rather than a two-year ban— because he cooperated with the US Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation that led to an eight-year ban for his former coach, Jon Drummond.

Gay’s results were annulled going back to July 15, 2012, the date when he first used a product containing a banned substance.

If the London medals are reallocated, the silver will go to T&T, who finished third in 38.12 seconds. The bronze would go to the French team which placed fourth in 38.16 seconds.

“Our athletes were denied the opportunity or moreso the glory to stand on the podium and receive the silver medal. This latest development strengthens the unwavering effort of the TTOC in protecting the rights of the clean athlete,” said Lewis.

The rules of track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, mandated that the entire US team be disqualified, but the final decision was up to the IOC.

Drummond was the coach of the US relay team in London and placed Gay on the team. According to the USADA decision in Drummond’s case, the athlete took a banned substance in July 2012 with the coach’s knowledge.

The IOC has previously stripped US relay teams of medals retroactively for doping, including three teams from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The US was stripped of gold in the women’s 4x400 and bronze in the 4x100 following Marion Jones’ admission of doping. Jones returned her medals, but her teammates appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to keep theirs and won their case in 2010. The court said IAAF rules at the time did not allow entire teams to be disqualified because of doping by one athlete.

The IOC also stripped the US men’s 4x400 relay of their Sydney gold after a doping admission by Antonio Pettigrew.

In 2012, American runner Crystal Cox was stripped of her gold medal from the 4x400 relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics after admitting to doping. The IOC did not disqualify the rest of the team because it was unclear which rules were in effect at the time.

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AMIDST MULTIPLE reports across world media yesterday which indicated that the United States’ men’s 4x100m relay team was stripped of their London 2012 Olympic silver medals as a consequence of Tyson Gay’s drug ban in May 2014, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), Brian Lewis, revealed that the local governing body has not yet received any official confirmation of these recent happenings from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Just after noon yesterday, several internationally accredited media corporations ran with similar stories depicting that the, “IOC wrote to the US Olympic Committee on Wednesday, telling them to collect the medals from Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton”. The aforementioned are the remaining members of the US 4x100m team who have now been told to follow in the footsteps of Gay, and return their medals. Gay’s Olympic medal was returned to the IOC when his ban was announced in May 2014.

At the London Summer Games relay final, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Yohan Blake (36.84 seconds) blasted to victory ahead of eventual runners-up USA’s Gatlin, Gay, Bailey and Kimmons (37.04) while TT quartet of Marc Burns, Keston Bledman, Emmanuel Callendar and Richard Thompson settled for bronze in 38.12.

If these rumours of the US being stripped of their medals are indeed true, the local team will automatically propel into second position and be awarded with Olympic silver, while France bumps up from fourth into third position. However, speaking to Lewis yesterday, he admitted to being aware of the circulating news but opted to veer away from public speculation and await the official correspondence from the IOC.

“We, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, have not received any correspondence or notification from the IOC,” the TTOC boss affirmed. “I sent an email earlier (yesterday) to the IOC, asking for some clarification on this particular matter. I’m hoping to receive a response by (this) morning because they (IOC) are a couple hours ahead of us.”

Lewis also noted that by following protocol, the IOC at this point in time would expect the TTOC to adapt in the absence of official communication, a reasonable and appropriate position.

“I would rather not comment or speculate further but what this continues to highlight is the importance of us taking the necessary steps as an Olympic movement, sporting world and TTOC, to protect the rights of clean athletes. We have to rigorous and relentless in protecting the rights of the clean athletes,” added Lewis.

Reiterating the importance and stern stance taken by the TTOC against doping in sport, the local Olympic fraternity joined forces with the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation and Ministry of Sport over the weekend to inaugurally serve as this nation’s official National Anti- Doping Organisation (NADO) for the Caribbean Zone Men’s Olympic Beach Volleyball qualifiers.

“We were insistent that we had to have in-competition testing because we must always be in compliance with the world anti-doping act and have to tangibly display that we are determined in the jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago to protect the rights of clean athletes. I look forward to receiving some official correspondence from the IOC. This is a matter that has been ongoing for quite some time since it was announced that Tyson Gay had those analytical findings. The TTOC is just as anxious as everyone else to have closure in this particular matter,” Lewis concluded.

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A masterful second-half display from England saw them seal a 69-36 win over Trinidad & Tobago in Liverpoolon Monday, clinching a 3-0 series victory in Tracey Neville’s first international commitment as head coach. With a series win already confirmed, a couple of changes were made to the starting line-up with Stacey Francis making her comeback from injury at GD and Pamela Cookey being utilised in a rare WA appearance.England raced out of the blocks and were quick to assert themselves on the game, Sonia Mkoloma clinching a smart early intercept and Helen Housby looking composed in the shooting circle.

The visitors responded well and started to make inroads into the lead, although England remained in relative control with a 14-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter. No changes were made for the second quarter but it wasn’t to be long before the hosts were forced into making one. Kadeen Corbin was involved in a collision with a Calypso Girls defender and had to be replaced, Rachel Dunn entered the action.

The break in play failed to halt the charge from the ladies in red as they upped the tempo to pull further clear heading into the half-time.At the interval England had moved 31-19 in front. Neville continued to assess her options in the second half as she introduced Natalie Haythornthwaite at WA and brought Sasha Corbin into centre. Cookey reverted to her more familiar role at GA. With the defence continuing to look strong, the attack also started firing. Dunn was looking in imperious form, netting from all over the circle. The combination work in attack was easily breaking through the away defence and England roared clear at 51-26 with a quarter remaining. A brand new defensive pairing was tried for the final 15 minutes as Sam Cook joined Layla Guscoth.Francis was switched to WD as more combinations were tested.Dunn and Cookey took their fine domestic form to the international scene as England took control against an increasingly dejected looking side. The energy refused to drop and despite a last hurrah from the visitors, scoring the final two goals of the encounter, England were able to celebrate a dominant series victory at the final whistle.

Player of the series went to our newest centurion Cookey while Sara Bayman was awarded player of the match following another sublime display.Next up for England is a trip to Belfast for Netball Europe later this week.The squad for this tournament sees a couple of new faces come in as Neville continues to look at various players ahead of naming her final 12 next month that will go on to compete at the Netball World Cup in Australia.

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KINGSTON—Emerging sprint star Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, says hard work has paid off allowing her to become the world’s leading sprinter following two recent 100 metre wins. Thompson announced herself to the world by speeding to victory in 10.97 seconds at the Jamaica Invitational on Saturday after clocking a world leading 10.92 seconds at the Utech Classics a few weeks ago.

“No, not easy. It’s been months and days of training, so it is the hard work that is paying off now. I started training late September,” said Thompson. “I train with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; she helps to motivate me a lot”. On Saturday, the 22-year-old Jamaican sprinter recovered from a slow start to lead Commonwealth Games champion Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and American star Allyson Felix at the half-way mark before pulling away for a comfortable win.

“I was feeling good, I know I could win so I just go out there to execute as best as I could. It wasn’t one of the best starts, but I just didn’t panic, I just went on and executed,” said Thompson who turns 23 next month. “I knew the names in the field were big, so I just didn’t try to get nervous. I just went out there and delivered.”

Thompson has credited her improvement to Stephen Francis, coach of MVP track club. She has now set her sights on a medal at the World Championship, which will be held at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, China, in August. “I see myself on that medal podium in Beijing,” said Thompson.
“All I need to do now is to put in a little more extra work and just do the things I normally do, nothing new, just some more work”.

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More than a week ago, The Pan Am Games committee decided upon the eight competing teams that will participate in the football tournament, both men and women. Following the Concacaf qualifying series for the Women’s world cup, I assumed that there will be some enthusiasm among the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) with regards the women players to have them engage in intense competition against teams like Argentina, Columbia and Mexico.

The men’s team is also involved against Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico for their preliminary round. It has always been my belief that Pan Am Games is probably the strong football competition in the region, simply because it includes countries from both the Concacaf and the Conmebol. Many will be surprised to know that the only medals won by team sports of field hockey and football were in the Pan Am Games. Our hockey team won the silver medal and the footballers won the bronze in 1967 when the Games were staged in Winnipeg, Canada.

Our current teams have been drawn against these top South American countries, a factor which should have sent their training programmes to full throttle in order to prepare for the July encounter. However, on listening to a radio programme some days ago, I was shocked to hear a report through an interview in which the team captain Maylee Attin Johnson, who was terribly disappointed that nothing was done about the women’s programme since the last Ecuador match. No training session, no information as to what the schedule will be and how soon.

One day later, I saw an announcement on the newspaper that the Yugoslavian coach, Vranes Zoran was appointed to coach the Pan Am men’s programme. It is always difficult to understand the operations of the ruling body when it comes to preparing national teams well in advance of big tournaments.

The dates for these games have been in place well over one year, which allows every country to begin their preparations early and make a positive contribution when the teams take the field with National colours. Instead, we are hearing from the women’s captain about an absence of planning or team preparation, plus no organised communication with the secretariat on the issue.

In a style that has now become in this country, the job of head coach for these two teams have never been advertised, which does not allow any of the local coaches to have an opportunity to be interviewed for these positions. Having followed the last Olympic team when they played really well in the final qualifying series for the London 2012 Olympics, I felt that the continuity for preparation would have been given to some of the coaches who have shown good work with the young players over the past few years.

Honestly, it is my humble view that selecting coaches must be preceded by advertising the position. Any other policy is another form of disrespect for the locals. Some months ago, we had been subjected to the choice of an American coach for the women’s squad for the world cup qualifying series. It was probably the biggest secret at the time, especially when the goodly gentleman appointed his son as a replacement for him during the training sessions in Trinidad.

It is also amazing how the country’s clubs do not take issue with these irresponsible decisions, many of which end up with our teams being underprepared for competition. There are three full months before these teams take the field in Canada and they are already late with their team planning and preparations.

No one has spoken about how this programme will be funded. I suppose that they are awaiting a day or two before the teams are ready to leave for the games, before they let the country know where the funding will be available. In this year of the country’s elections, the government will be busy with their campaign trails and who knows whether or not funding will be available for the squads.

I suppose that the presence of the former national footballer Brent Sancho in the seat of Sports Minister in the Ministry of Sport has placed the sport in a comfort zone for financial assistance, even without a budget. There shall still be great expectation that the teams will beat the shirts off their opponents. Despite a sluggish administrative commencement of their plans.

It is time that the administrative duties of the TTFA be better organised, otherwise, we shall never see the type of progress on the football field in the manner that would make us proud.

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