media_artricles :: 2014

Baptiste doping hearing postponed

THE Disciplinary Committee hearing for a positive doping test by national sprint queen Kelly-Ann Baptiste has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. This was announced yesterday by Allan Baboolal, secretary general, of the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA).

Baptiste, who entered the World Championships last year as one of TT’s brightest medal hopes, had to withdraw from the competition due to a positive drug test.

It was a devastating blow to the former Louisiana State University student who had been flying the flag for this country’s female athletes and in 2012 was named Sportswoman of the Year at numerous local awards.

Her Disciplinary Committee hearing — subsequent to a test of her “B” sample — was scheduled to be held before the end of this month but Baboolal revealed it has been shifted “indefinitely”.

“That has been postponed indefinitely. I can’t say when it will be held,” Baboolal said yesterday.

Asked whether the result of Baptiste’s “B” sample has been determined, he said: “I can’t tell you that. When we get all the info it will be made public in a press release or you can call back,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, fellow sprinter Semoy Hackett, who also pulled out of the 2013 World Championships, is also awaiting her hearing for a positive doping test.

Hackett, who had an adverse analytical finding for the banned substance methylhexaneamine in 2012 and was given a six-month retroactive ban, tested positive again for the same substance at a 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Iowa, in July, which resulted in a provisional ban.

The NAAA Disciplinary Committee, however, exonerated Hackett and allowed her to run at the 2013 National Championships where she earned selection for the World Championships in Moscow last year.

The IAAF, though, has expressed disagreement with the decision by the NAAA to allow Hackett to lift the ban and appealed the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. That hearing is expected to take place towards the end of February.

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