Caribbean Sports In Brief

The Jamaica 4×100 m squad from Beijing 2008: From front, L) Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt and Michael Frater. The IOC claims Carter failed a re-test and has said it will strip the entire team of its gold medals. (Photo credit WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 27, 2017: Here are the stories making headlines in sports from the Caribbean and its Diaspora.

Jamaican Olympic Association To Appeal IOC Decision Against 4x100m Team

The Jamaican Olympic Association says it may appeal against the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to their 4x100m relay squad of their gold medals earned at the 2008 Beijing Olympic after team member Nesta Carter’s failed a drug re-test.

The IOC retested 454 selected doping samples from 2008 and a further 250 from London using the latest scientific analysis methods. Sixty one athletes failed the re-test the IOC said Wednesday, including Carter.

The failure means Usain Bolt along with Michael Frater, Asafa Powell and Carter stands to lose one medals. Bolt will lose one of his nine and throw his ‘triple triple’ legacy into confusion.

“We have to decide what the best legal process is,” Jamaican Olympic Association chief Mike Fennell said Wednesday. “It is a team and we are interested in ensuring they are properly protected and given a fair chance of clearing their names.”

Carter’s lawyer, meanwhile, confirmed on Wednesday that the sprinter will lodge his own appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Bolt for his part has remained silent on the news.  The drug is banned by many sports authorities and governmental agencies due to serious concerns about its safety. These countries include the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. The World Anti Doping Agency has banned methylhexanamine as a performance-enhancing substance and suspended athletes that have used it. The FDA has stated that methylhexanamine “is known to narrow the blood vessels and arteries, which may lead to cardiovascular events ranging from shortness of breath and tightening in the chest to heart attack.” In April 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration determined that methylhexanamine was potentially dangerous and did not qualify as a legal dietary supplement. It warned supplement makers that it was illegal to market methylhexanamine and warned consumers of potentially serious health risks associated with methylhexanamine-containing products.

Methylhexanamine has also been marketed under the names Forthane, Geranamine, 1,3-dimethylamylamine (1,3-DMAA) or simply dimethylamylamine (DMAA) and is known to have stimulant properties including as a body-building aid, an athletic performance enhancer, and a weight-loss aid. References to ‘geranium’, ‘geranium oil’ or ‘Pelargonium graveolens’ in the listed ingredients of legal highs are believed to mean methylhexanamine, although few of these products have been formally analyzed.

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Caribbean To Break From CONCACAF

The Caribbean Football Union could soon break away from the 31-strong CFU to split from North and Central America’s CONCACAF to form the Caribbean Football Confederation.

Antigua’s Gordon Derrick, president of the Caribbean Football Union, was given the go-ahead after an executive committee summit in Miami to prepare the road map for the split. According to Daily Mail report, the 26 Caribbean territories who are fed up with being dictated to by the American and Canadian powerbrokers on CONCACAF support the measure and want the freedom to fund their own youth soccer development.

Bahamian Olympian For Millrose Games

The countdown has begun to the 110th NYRR Millrose Games, and the appearance by top Bahamian Olympian Shaunae Miller. Fans will be able to see Miller live at the February 11th Games in New York City. The Olympic 400-m champion, whose dive across the line to beat Allyson Felix in Rio created a firestorm of criticism on social media in the summer, will contest the 300-m at the Games. Miller is aiming to break her own meeting record of 36.10, set in 2014. She will face Olympic 4×400-m champion Natasha Hastings, who holds the US indoor 300m record at 36.25 at the event.

Top US and Caribbean Olympians For Grenada Invitational

The list of top athletes to participate in the inaugural Grenada Invitational is growing. Organizers this week announced two others Olympians for the event in April. Olympic 100-m hurdles champion Brianna Rollins of the United States and Trinidad & Tobago track star Michelle-Lee Ahye are the latest to add their names to the growing list of competitors for the Grenada Invitational (GI 2017) scheduled for April 8th at the Grenada National Athletic Stadium. Americans Justin Gatlin, David Oliver, LaShawn Merritt and Ashley Spencer, along with Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, Phylicia George of Canada and former world and Olympic 400m champion Kirani James of Grenada are among athletes previously announced by the organizers.