COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) — Raymond Stewart, who coached disgraced US sprinter Jerome Young, has been slapped with a lifetime ban, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced yesterday.

Stewart was kicked out of the sport for life by USADA for obtaining performance-enhancing drugs for his athletes. It was determined by an arbitration panel that he purchased drugs from Angel Memo Heredia, who has been named in similar drugs probes of coach Trevor Graham and American sprinter Crystal Cox. Like Graham, Stewart was born in Jamaica.

“Violating the sacred responsibility and standards of a coach by aiding athletes with doping is truly reprehensible,” USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said.

Stewart competed in four Olympics for Jamaica, specialising in the 100 metres. He won a silver medal in the 400-metre relay at the 1984 Games. He was the first athlete to reach three straight Olympic 100-metre finals.

He joins Graham and Remi Korchemny as the third coach to be banned for life for assisting athletes in getting and ingesting drugs.

Young was on the USA’s 1,600-metre, gold-medal relay team at the 2000 Olympics, but has since been banned for life for doping.

Others Stewart coached include: JJ Johnson, a member of the US 2003 world champion 400-metre relay team; Kenny Brokenburr, a member of America’s gold-medal, 400-metre team from the 2000 Games; and three-time Olympic medallist Jamaican Beverly McDonald. Stewart and McDonald eventually got married.

At the 2009 Penn Relays in New York, Stewart was honoured by Team Jamaica Bickle for his contribution to athletics.