IAAF suspends Trini sprinter

IAAF suspends Trini sprinter
Associated Press / Martin Mejia, File

Trinidad and Tobago sprint queen and Commonwealth Games 100-meter champion Michelle-Lee Ahye has been provisionally suspended by the world track and field governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) for a violation of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules.

This means that the 27-year-old Ahye will miss the IAAF World Championships scheduled from Sept. 27 – Oct. 6, 2019 in Doha, Qatar.

In a tweet last week, Athletics Integrity Unit – an independent body of the IAAF – said, “The AIU confirms a provisional suspension against Trinidadian sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye for a violation of the IAFF Anti-Doping Rules.”

According to the provisional list, Ahye was provisionally suspended for “Whereabouts Failures.”

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules require athletes to submit their whereabouts for one hour every day, plus overnight accommodation and training information, in case they are needed for out-of-competition testing.

The National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAATT) of Trinidad and Tobago issued a statement indicating that Ahye was charged with a combination of three missed tests and /or failures as defined in the international standard for testing and investigations, within the 12-month period beginning Feb. 23, 2018, April 19 and June 23, 2018.

Ahye copped gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, at the Gold Coast in Australia and followed up with the silver medal at the Pan Am Games, in Lima, Peru last month.