media_artricles :: 2013

T&T marathon champ Akor gets 2-year ban

Seven-time Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon winner and UWI SPEC International Half Marathon champion Mary Akor has accepted a retroactive two-year ban for using a prohibited substance.

According to a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) media statement Akor, 37, tested positive for Clenbuterol as the result of an in-competition urine sample collected on December 16, 2012 at the Maraton Gobernador in Mexicali, Baja California.

Clenbuterol is a prohibited anabolic agent under the USADA protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing and the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) Anti-Doping Rules, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the WADA Prohibited List.

Akor accepted a two-year period of ineligibility for her doping offence and has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained between December 6, 2012, the date her sample was collected, and November 5, 2013, the day she accepted her sanction, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.

Akor won her seventh T&T International Marathon title in January this year and also the UWI Spec International Half Marathon in October.

T&T International Marathon organising committee chairman, Diane Henderson, said she was “shocked” when she got the news yesterday.

She said that earlier this year, the committee spoke about the possibility of having testing done for the T&T International Marathon.

According to Henderson, while testing was costly, with recent revelations, T&T Marathon officials will have to look at it for the future.

As for Akor’s ban and period of disqualification, Henderson said the committee will have to meet to discuss the matter before making any comments.

Top