Former Olympic hurdles champion receives 5-year ban for doping
2016 100m hurdles Olympic champion Brianna Rollins-McNeal may not be at the Tokyo or Paris Games
Photo by:
Brianna Rollins-McNeal Instagram
American 100m hurdler Brianna Rollins-McNeal has been banned from competition for five years for allegedly “tampering within the results management process” of doping control samples. The 29-year-old was the 2016 Olympic champion and the 2013 world champion in the 100m hurdles, and her personal best time of 12.26 seconds makes her the fourth-fastest woman in history in the event.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7ZeeQFSOX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
RELATED: Former Olympic hurdles champion receives 5-year ban for doping
According to CBC Sports, the ban is set to end in August 2024, following the conclusion of the Paris Olympics. This, of course, would mean she would not be eligible to compete at the Tokyo or Paris Games. This is the second time Rollins-McNeal has received a ban in a doping case; she missed the entire 2017 season while she was serving a one-year suspension for missing doping tests.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has not released details of the case for confidentiality reasons, but Rollins-McNeal has begun an appeal to allow her to compete in Tokyo. Her appeal will be heard before the start of the Games, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has decided to freeze her ban to allow her to compete at the U.S. Olympic trials, which are set to take place from June 18-27.
Rollins-McNeal’s ban was made public just over a week before news broke that American 1,500m record-holder Shelby Houlihan had received a four-year ban following a positive drug test. Houlihan tested positive for the steroid nandrolone, which can sometimes be found in high levels in pork, and she claims her result was from a burrito she had eaten from a Mexican food truck near her home just 10 hours before the test. She took her case to the CAS, but her explanation was not accepted and the AIU’s charges were upheld.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQHnnb5h6Ht/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
If Rollins-McNeal’s ban is upheld, that means two of the world’s top athletes will be missing from the next two Olympics. A full report of Houlihan’s ban is expected to be made public in the coming weeks.
RELATED: Sebastien Coe cracks down on high-profile athletes, drug cheats
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
