Torri Edwards may lose Olympic eligibility

Sacramento (California): World 100m champion Torri Edwards has tested positive for a banned stimulant that could make her ineligible for next month’s Olympics.

The 27-year-old sprinter tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide at a meeting in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on April 24, the IAAF confirmed on Thursday. Her case will be heard on Monday before the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Although her case has not been resolved, the source, when asked whether Edwards could lose her Olympic eligibility, said: “That could happen.”

Edwards made the US Olympic team by finishing second in the 100m at the US Olympic trials on Saturday.

She is scheduled to compete in the 200 metres beginning on Friday and is considered one of the favourites.

Penalties for the use of a stimulant range from a public warning and loss of results to a two-year suspension depending on the stimulant and whether the use was inadvertent.

The source said Edwards had inadvertently taken a form of glucose that unknowingly contained nikethamide, a stimulant that can affect the central nervous system.

Edwards could not be reached for comment.

She was handed the world 100 title after compatriot Kelli White admitted to doping and was stripped of her world titles.

Edwards also finished third in the 200 behind White and Russia’s Anastasiya Kapachinskaya in Paris last year but was promoted to the silver medal with White’s admission of guilt.

Meanwhile, US marathon runner Eddy Hellebuyck has tested positive for EPO, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) announced on Thursday, according to a report from Colorado Springs.

Hellebuyck failed an out-of-competition test on January 30, the USOC said in a statement. He finished eighth in the US Olympic men’s marathon trials eight days later.

The USOC said the Anti-Doping Review Board of the US Anti-Doping Agency had determined that sufficient evidence of doping existed to proceed with the case.

Currently, Hellebuyck is disputing the positive test results in the USADA adjudication process, the USOC said.