Asafa Powell’s support for fellow Jamaican

Jul 10 2010 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

ASAFA Powell does not think Jamaican track and field has a problem with education after the latest athlete fell foul of its rules.

World and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has had to pull out of today’s British Grand Prix in Gateshead after being provisionally suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

She stands accused of taking a pain-killer for toothache without filling out the relevant documentation.

The matter came to light before Thursday’s Diamond League meet in Lausanne.

The substance is not performance-enhancing or a masking agent – the president of her track club, Bruce James, claimed it makes athletes run more slowly – but Fraser is the eighth Jamaican to fail a drugs test in the last year, most of them for similarly trivial offences.

With a strict policy of personal liability and a long list of substances outlawed, 21st Century athletes have to be very careful about everything they put into their body.

While sympathetic towards MVP club-mate, Powell doubts ignorance is an excuse for his country’s poor record.

“I don’t know, I’m getting the message,” he said at yesterday morning’s pre-meet Press conference. “It just shows everyone has to be careful, no matter who you are. Any little thing can turn out to be a big thing.

“I woke up an hour ago and only heard about it then. I haven’t heard much, and I don’t know exactly what happened.

“I heard it’s not a big deal.

“I’ll call her later on to see what’s happening – if she’s up. It’s sad it’s happening to someone in my camp, but it would still be sad no matter who it was.”

In the light of Fraser’s difficulties, fellow sprinter Powell thinks the list of banned substances needs reviewing – and shortening.

“If it doesn’t help you to perform well then I don’t think it should be on the list,” he said.

“She didn’t cheat. She took some painkillers, which is something different.”