JAMAICA’S embattled sprinter Steve Mullings will contest the results of his B sample that showed the presence of a banned substance in his system when he took part in the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Trials in late June.

After a prolonged wait this week, the Floridabased sprinter was notified late Thursday that the results of the B sample which was tested at the INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier Research Center in Quebec — an IAAF/WADA accredited facility — had confirmed the presence of the diuretic Furosemide.

The testing process started on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am (8:00 am Jamaica time), but the athlete was not notified until late Thursday evening, much longer than the 24 hours that it normally takes to get a result.

Meanwhile, the Observer learnt yesterday that the hearing will be held on Monday, August 22.

According to Medicinenet.com, Furosemide, which is dispensed under the brand name ‘Lasix’, is “a potent diuretic (water pill) that is used to eliminate water and salt from the body. In the kidneys, salt (composed of sodium and chloride), water, and other small molecules normally are filtered out of the blood and into the tubules of the kidney. The filtered fluid ultimately becomes urine”.

Mullings was notified on August 8 that his A Sample given after the final of the men’s 100m at the Trials on June 24 at the National Stadium, had contained an Adverse Analytical Finding (an illegal substance).

Yesterday, however, the 28-year-old former Vere Technical, Barton County CC and Mississippi State athlete told the Observer he had no choice but to fight to clear his name. Asked whether he would ask for a hearing with the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), he said, “I have to”, while continuing to maintain his innocence.

If he does contest the results, it would be a turn around from his earlier stance as wire reports quoted him as saying he was undecided whether to face the panel.

Earlier this week, Mullings told the Observer he was expecting to have his name cleared, as he had not taken any banned substances. He was, however, uncertain when the hearing would be held as while saying he would not be here in person, “someone will represent me at the hearing”. He comfirmed that his handlers had notifed JADCO on his behalf.

An email sent to his agent, John Regis, had not been answered up to late yesterday.

Mullings has 14 days in which to request a hearing at which time he is expected to give a plausible explanation of how the substance came into his body.

Under IAAF/WADA’s strict liability rules, the athletes are responsible for anything that goes into their systems and Mullings, who was banned in 2004 for two years after testing positive for elevated testosterone levels, will have to satisfy the panel that he did not knowingly take a banned substance to gain an unfair advantage.

Mullings, who ran a personal best 9.80 seconds this year, the third fastest behind compatriot Asafa Powell and training partner Tyson Gay, faces a possible life ban from the sport.

The positive test brought a superb season to a screeching halt, just weeks before the start of the 13th IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea where he was expected to win as many as three medals.

Mullings had won the 200m and was third in the 100m at Trials, earning automatic spots in both events as well as a spot on the 4x100m relay team.

He was, however, left off the 50-member team named by the JAAA on Monday that will represent the island in Daegu, starting next weekend.

He was fifth in the 200m final at the Berlin World Championships in 2009 and won a gold medal as part of the relay team two years after winning a silver medal in the relays in Osaka, Japan.

Mullings, who scored big wins on the circuit at the Pre-Fontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon and the Adidas Classic in New York, had run seven sub-10.00-second times this year.

He is based in Clermont in Central Florida where he trains under coach Lance Brauman, alongside Gay and Jamaicans Nickel Ashmeade, Ramone McKenzie, Aleen Bailey and Samantha Henry-Robinson.