Not so fast!
The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has initiated a process in which they hope the non-ratification of the World Under-20 women’s 4x100m record set by Jamaica at the 49th Carifta Games held in Kingston will be reviewed by the technical committee of World Athletics.
On Wednesday, World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, published in their monthly newsletter that the record 42.48 seconds that was run by the Jamaican team of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston, and Tia Clayton at the Games in Kingston in mid-April would not be ratified as only three of the four athletes had been drug tested after the race, an apparent contravention of the rules.
A release from the JAAA on Wednesday identified the athlete who was not tested as Tina Clayton, the winner of the Under-20 women’s 100m the previous day and who would have been tested then.
Guidelines put down by World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) are that athletes should not be tested more than once over a 24-hour period and chairman of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), the local test organisation, Alexander Williams, told the Jamaica Observer they “should have gone beyond” the guidelines and tested all four.
The time run in Kingston on April 17 had beaten the previous world record 42.94 seconds that was set by another Jamaican team of Cole, Tina Clayton, Kerrica Hill and Tia Clayton at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2021.
A second Under-20 world record was also rejected by World Athletics on Wednesday, the 9.96 seconds set by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo on April 22, as “no zero gun test [was] performed for the timing equipment”, the release said.
Williams said they had observed the WADA 24-hour guidelines so as not to to “harass” the athletes while in competition, but acknowledged that, in the event of a world record, they should have made sure all four were tested.
In a release that was sent out, JADCO pointed out that, under the guidelines of their contract, they were “advised to carry out six urine tests per day, with testing being done on any athlete who achieved a national/world record”, and detailed the tests that were carried over over the three days, from April 16-18.
The release went on to say that, “On April 17, 2022, the women’s U-20 4x100m race was executed. 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.
“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.
“The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission has recognised that World Athletics has declined to accept the result of the record-breaking performance of the Jamaica’s women’s U-20 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.
“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,” the release said.
President of the JAAA Garth Gayle told the Observer that his organisation had initiated a process that is hoped will see the record being ratified.
“We have started the process through NACAC [North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association], our parent body, and they are assisting through a review,” he said.
Gayle stressed that the process was “not a normal appeal” as World Athletics was within its rights, given the process was not carried through as prescribed.
A release from the JAAA said: “It is a fact that all four athletes were notified by the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO) officials and presented themselves to the anti-doping station within the required time window to be tested. Unfortunately, JADCO took the decision, unknown to the JAAA and the NACAC’s anti-doping delegate, not to test the athlete based on a JADCO standard.
“This was in direct contradiction to oral and written instructions by the JAAA. It is to be noted that JADCO is the agency that performs anti-doping testing on our athletes, both in and out of competition, on behalf of the JAAA and was contracted to do so at the NACAC 2022 Carifta Games.”