Satisfied that the JADCo now has the requisite resources to protect both athletes and staff in the commission of its duty, chairman of the organization Alexander Williams, believes the time is right, having announced an indefinite suspension of testing operations in April.
According to Williams the JADCo had to take the time off from normal operations to assess the risks of continuing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, without having to impact its resources.
Now, the chairman says, all safety protocols can be followed because all the equipment to do so is already in house.
The chairman was speaking at the official opening of the JADCo’s new headquarters last Thursday.
The JADCo now occupies a premises at 1 Ballater Avenue in Jamaica’s parish of St Andrew.
Meantime, Garth Gayle, President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), in describing the development as saddening, has indicated that his administration is planning to appeal the World Athletics decision to not ratify the record.
“We are saddened by the situation that four young ladies would be denied the record. The matter is still at a sensitive stage and we would have done the necessary appeals. We are still hopeful that the record will be ratified at a later stage,” he said.
World Athletics has rejected the ratification of the world record because not all members of the team were subjected to doping control. In a lengthy statement Wednesday, (JADCO) sought to explain the circumstances under which they failed to test all four members of the relay team.
“The event was won by the Jamaican team which was comprised of four female athletes. They completed the race with a world record of 42.58. Doping Control was conducted immediately on three of the female athletes,” the JADCO statement said.
“Since one of the athletes was already tested on the 16th of April 2022, a urine sample was not collected from this athlete on the 17th of April 2022. It is customary and in JADCO’s Best Practice in-competition, that if an athlete is tested today in-competition, the said athlete would not be tested the following day in-competition.”
JADCO claims it was instructed to carry out a specific number of tests for each day of the three-day championships that were being held in Jamaica for the first time since 2011.
“The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) was contracted by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to 18 urine samples throughout the period of the 49th staging of the CARIFTA Games. The Commission was advised to carry 6 urine tests per day with testing being done on any athlete who achieved a national/world record.
On April 16, 2022, six athletes were tested – three Jamaican female athletes, two male Jamaican athletes and one male athlete from the Bahamas.
On April 17, the day the world record was broken, JADCO tested nine athletes – six Jamaican female athletes, one Jamaican male athlete, one female athlete from the US Virgin Islands and one male athlete from the Bahamas.
Six more athletes were tested on April 18, 2022 – three Jamaican male athletes, one Jamaican female athlete, one male athlete from Curacao and one female athlete from the Bahamas.
Going forward, JADCO said they will ensure that all athletes breaking records would be tested.
“The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission has recognized that World Athletics has declined to accept the result of the record-breaking performance of Jamaica’s Women’s U20 4x100m relay team on April 17, 2022, since one of the athletes previously tested by JADCO on April 16, 2022, was not tested on the day the record was broken,” the JADCO statement said.
“Whilst our testing conforms with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) protocols, going forward JADCO will ensure the testing of record-breaking athletes despite the frequency of testing.”
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