DR WARREN Blake, president of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) is optimistic that Briana Williams could be exonerated after testing positive for the diuretic at the Jamaican national championships in June.

Williams, 17, returned a positive test for the diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) after competing in the 100m where she was third in a national junior record and world U-18 record of 10.94s. The Florida-based Williams is said to have taken Pharma Cold and Flu tablets that were contaminated by the diuretic.

When she was tested, Williams had reportedly declared the tablets on her anti-doping form.

On receiving news that her ‘A’ sample had turned up an adverse finding, the tablets from the batch were sent to a lab in the United States which confirmed the contamination.

However, Dr Blake, in an interview on Tuesday when Williams was ousted, expressed some amount of optimism about the athlete’s chances of any serious sanction.

“We expect that a suitable explanation will be given and that it won’t translate to a hearing where the athlete will have to make herself present because the explanation and the tests that have been done seem that they might, in my opinion, exonerate the athlete.”

Up to this point, Williams has had an outstanding year, winning a second Austin Sealy Award at the CARIFTA Games in March, as well as the NACAC U-18 100m title in Mexico and the Pan Am Under-20 100m in Costa Rica. (Sportsmax)