RALEIGH, North Carolina, (Reuters) – Olympic and world 400 metres champion LaShawn Merritt has failed three doping tests for a banned substance and accepted a provisional suspension, his lawyer said yesterday.
“LaShawn Merritt has accepted a provisional suspension as a result of positive drug tests caused by his use of an over-the-counter male enhancement product,” the American athlete’s attorney Howard Jacobs said in a statement.
“His voluntary acceptance of a provisional suspension means that he has chosen not to compete until the case has been decided,” the statement added.
Should the 23-year-old receive a standard two-year suspension, it would prevent him defending his world title next year and would seriously hamper his preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
Merritt won individual 400 metres gold at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 world championships and led the US to victory in the 4×400 metres relay in both competitions.
His victory by almost a second over defending champion and favourite Jeremy Wariner at the Beijing Games was the largest winning margin in the event for over 100 years.
Counter Product
Merritt’s statement said he had used the over-the-counter product, which contained DHEA and pregnenolone, following the 2009 season.
“(It) caused LaShawn Merritt to test positive on three successive tests in October 2009, December 2009, and January 2010,” the statement said.
Merritt was not notified of the positive tests until March.
DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is an endogenous hormone and serves as precursor to male and female sex hormones (androgens and estrogens), according to the website for the Mayo Clinc. (www.mayoclinic.com)
“To know that I’ve tested positive as a result of product that I used for personal reasons is extremely difficult to wrap my hands around,” Merritt said in a separate statement.
“I hope my sponsors, family, friends and the sport itself will forgive me for making such a foolish, immature and egotistical mistake. “Any penalty that I may receive for my action will not overshadow the embarrassment and humiliation that I feel inside,” he said. USA Track & Field chief executive Doug Logan reacted strongly.
“I am disgusted by this entire episode,” Logan said in a statement.
“Any professional athlete in this sport knows that they are solely responsible for anything that goes into their bodies,” Logan said.
“For Mr. Merritt to claim inadvertent use of a banned substance due to the ingestion of over-the-counter supplements brings shame to himself and his team mates.”
