From Inside the Games
The long arm of the law reached back and re-tested Ukraine’s 35-year-old shot putter Andriy Semenov. He is the latest athlete to appear on the provisional suspension list of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) following the re-inspection of a sample he gave in 2011.
Eight years is a long time but serves as a warning that if you don’t want to embarrass yourself or your family, just don’t cheat, the long arm of the law will catch you.
The sample, taken during the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Daegu, showed up the presence of DHCMT – the banned steroid turinabol – when analysed by the most advanced equipment available.
It comes in what would appear to be a new sweep of samples from that period.
Semenov, who finished 22nd at the event in South Korea, failing to reach the final, now faces a potential two-year ban.
Cocaine
British cross-country international Luke Traynor has been provisionally suspended from competition by UK Anti-Doping and could be banned for up to four years after testing positive for cocaine.
The 26-year-old Scot, who won the Great Scottish Run in 2011, said in a statement on Twitter that he had made “an incredibly stupid and uncharacteristic mistake”.
Traynor stressed that the drug had been taken socially and not in order to enhance performance.
“This was devastating news for me and I take full responsibility,” he said, as he revealed he had tested positive “for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine”.
Traynor added: “I am sorry to my family, friends, coaches, sponsors, and anybody who has supported my progress at any stage of my career.
On a positive note
Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad broke the world record in the women’s 400 metres hurdles on the final day of the United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines.
The American Rio 2016 gold medallist clocked 52.20sec to eclipse the mark held by Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina for nearly 16 years.
Pechonkina, the 2005 world champion, ran 52.34 in Tula in August 2003 with that mark now only a European record.
Muhammad’s time at Drake Stadium in the Iowa city came on a wet track and after she suffered mild concussion two weeks ago following a fall in training.
“My coach kept telling me it was there,” the 29-year-old, running in lane four, told NBC after the race.
