JAMAICAN Olympian and two-time IAAF World Championships shot put finalist Dorian Scott was earlier this week confirmed as assistant coach at San Diego State University, California.

Scott, who was forced to withdraw from Jamaica’s team to the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, as he made arrangements to move from his home in Tallahassee, Florida, will be in charge of the throwing programme at San Diego, according to a report on the school’s website.

Head coach Sheila Burrell was quoted as saying, “Dorian proved to be the best fit for the direction of our programme on many levels.

“The fact that he turned down the opportunity to compete at this year’s IAAF World Championships in order to make the move from Florida to San Diego tells me he is committed to the vision of the programme and believes he can make a difference.

“Dorian is a talented young coach who, without a doubt, will make his mark on SDSU’s throwing programme very quickly. Adding another coach with elite coaching and competitive track and field experience in the throwing events sets this programme up for some special things to come,” she said.

Scott, who is a USA Track and Field Level One and Level Two certified coach in the throwing events, was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Florida State University, for the past four years.

“I’m excited about having a chance to be on this coaching staff at San Diego State,” Scott was quoted as saying.

“There has been great success here the past few years and I’d like to help this programme become a national power.”

His appointment has not been without some controversy, however, as a san Diego-based sports website, ‘Sign On’, highlighted his 2006 suspension after testing positive for marijuana at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Games in Colombia.

Scott had then received a public warning from the IAAF and was stripped of the gold medal and then national record.

The website said it was the second time in just over two years San Diego State had hired an assistant coach with a “doping violation in his past” as former American hurdler Larry Wade was hired in 2009 after serving a two-year ban for steroid use.

Scott’s new boss came to his defence, however, and told the website, “I knew about it and called references. I even called people who weren’t on his reference list.

“I called people who knew him as an athlete and knew him professionally — people I respect. I asked them, point blank, what was the situation? Then I asked him about the situation. Both stories matched up.”

Burrell is also quoted as saying, “It happened when he was 24 years old. He was at an age that many of our athletes are now, and he can advise them against doing what he did.

“It was young and dumb kind of thing. You’re not talking about a PED. You’re not talking about performance enhancement. You can’t let something like that define you. It’s not a defining mistake.”