Jamaican Brooks cleared of doping charge

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) Sprinter Sheri-Ann Brooks, one of five Jamaican athletes to test positive for a banned stimulant in June, has been cleared for the world championships due to an 'irregularity' in testing for her second sample.

Brooks, who tested positive for the stimulant methylxanthine along with four other world squad members at the Jamaican national championships, was cleared after a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, Jamaican anti-doping officials said.

"We had a meeting with Ms Sheri-Ann Brooks today and we were unable to impose a sanction on her, as there was an irregularity with the testing of the B sample that was raised by her counsel," Kent Gammon, head of the Jamaica Anti Doping Agency's disciplinary committee, told reporters after the hearing.

"Therefore, we were unable to conclude that she was guilty of an offence," Gammon said of Brooks, who won 100 metres gold in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The four other athletes, Alodin Fothergill, Yohan Blake, Lansford Spence and Marvin Anderson, face disciplinary hearings into their failed tests.

A source with knowledge of the testing proceedings said local doping officials had breached procedure by authorising the 'B' sample tests without authorisation from the athletes.

The source said only Brooks' 'B' sample was tested before the the foul-up was detected -- and the irregularity did not apply to the other athletes.

"This means that the athlete must be cleared, as she did not give permission for her urine sample to be tested behind her back," the source said.

"The rule is clear, the athlete must be present or have a representative at the testing of the 'B' sample, or waive his right to have the sample tested without a witness."

Although a Jamaica athletics official on Monday said the doping hearings would preclude them from going to the Aug 15-23 world championships in Berlin, officials on Wednesday clarified that Brooks would be eligible to join the world team, as would the other athletes, if cleared.

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