Jamaican athlete Christopher Taylor faces ban, charged with anti-doping rule violation

May 26, 2023  -The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged Jamaican runner Christopher Taylor for violating the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Anti-Doping Code Article 2.3.

This follows a six-month inquiry that revealed Taylor evaded a doping test in November 2022.

WADA Anti-Doping Code Article 2.3 states: “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection. The Evading Sample collection, or without compelling justification, refusing or failing to submit to Sample collection after notification as authorized in applicable anti-doping rules.”

Taylor, 23, faces a minimum two-year ban from the sport according to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Anti-Doping Rule 10.3.1.

“For violations of Article 2.3 or Article 2.5, the period of Ineligibility shall be four years unless, in the case of failing to submit to Sample collection, the Athlete can establish that the commission of the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional (as defined in Article 10.2.3), in which case the period of Ineligibility shall be two years,” the rule states.

According to reports, the AIU has already notified all relevant parties including the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.

According to reports, Taylor was contacted in November 2022 by anti-doping officials who had arrived at the address he had specified on his whereabouts form to conduct a test.

It is said that when the officials arrived, Taylor was not at the indicated address, and had not updated his whereabouts information.

The athlete was instead at Norman Manley International Airport.

Athletes in the registered testing pool are required to disclose certain information that anti-doping organizations use to locate athletes for out-of-competition testing.

If an athlete is not where they said they would be when anti-doping officials arrive for testing, it may be considered a missed test. While a first or second offense carries no penalty, missing three tests in a 12-month period constitutes a ‘Whereabouts Violation,’ which results in an automatic period of ineligibility for the athlete.

However, if an athlete is deemed to have violated WADA Anti-Doping Code Article 2.3 which speaks to “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection”, a two or four-year ban is mandatory.

Taylor, the Olympic and World Championships finalist is now set to miss the World Athletics Championships, with the National Senior Championship set for July 6 to 9.

Taylor has been Jamaica’s top quartermiler, ending the 2021 and 2022 seasons as the fastest Jamaican in the 400m.

He made the finals of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, finishing sixth, and finished seventh at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.