US sprinter Mike Rodgers was handed a provisional suspension after a positive drug test and won’t race at the athletics World Championships, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced on Friday.
Rodgers is a former US 100m champion who was slated to race the 100m and 4x100m relay at the world meet that starts on Saturday next week in Daegu, South Korea.
“He won’t compete until the case is resolved,” USADA spokesperson Annie Skinner said on Friday.
The 26-year-old Rodgers tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine at a meeting in Italy last month.
In a news release, USADA said that Rodgers has claimed “that he did not intentionally ingest the prohibited substance, however, he has decided to withdraw from the World Championships out of fairness to the other athletes competing there so that they may do so without the distraction of his positive test.”
USA Track and Field’s interim chief executive Mike McNees welcomed Rodgers’ decision.
“We are glad Michael has chosen to accept this provisional suspension, which will lessen the amount of disruption to his teammates as they prepare for the World Championships,” McNees said in a statement.
Trell Kimmons, who was already on the US team submitted for the World Championships as a member of the 4x100m relay pool, will now compete in the individual 100m, USA Track and Field said.
Rodgers accepted the provisional suspension pending the outcome of the case, Skinner said.
Rodgers’ lawyer, David Greifinger, told USADA that he would continue to look into the cause of the failed drug test.
The suspension followed sprinter Jeremy Dodson’s arrest on suspicion of identity theft this week, days before he was due to leave for the Worlds.
Dodson, who earned a berth in the 200m at the Worlds, was arrested and released on Wednesday after posting a US$10,000 bond.
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