Local athletes pass random drug test

The samples which were taken from five senior athletes including sprint stars Marc Burns and Darrel Brown, and a similar amount of junior athletes, were sent to a laboratory in Toronto, Canada, where they were tested for performance enhancement drugs.

The results were returned on Thursday and National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) president Ken Doldron made the revelation.

He told Newsday that while he was not surprised by the results, it was an indication that his athletes have worked hard and are performing on their natural ability.

He said there has never been any doubt that the local athletes are clean and have not been involved in any performance enhancement drugs.

Testing was done as the local athletic association strive to ensure it keep up with international standards the world over.

The move was also part of a general move to enhance the development of track and field in Trinidad and Tobago.

The NAAA’s also went full speed ahead to ensure the certification of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, which enabled record breaking times to be recognised as legitimate at the venue.

Such certification was also done to the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, and are expected to be done on the other stadia, which includes the Larry Gomes in Malabar, Arima, the Manny Ramjohn in Union, Marabella and Ato Boldon in Balmain, Couva.

The NAAA’s also beefed up the starting process by the purchase of sensors and the training of officials to operate the system.

According to Doldron, the entire start-to-finish upgrade system, including the purchase of the tests cost his association approximately $200,000.

It was first tested at the Sagicor Championship following which the legitimacy of its operations were criticised, after sprinters Burns clocked a blistering 9.96 seconds and Brown 9.99 in their 100 metres showdown.

He made it clear that some of this country’s athletes have already undergone drug testing, including Brown, Burns, the Central American and Caribbean Senior Games record holder in the Hammer Throw Candice Scott and the powerful shut putter Cleopatra Borrel-Brown.