The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has withdrawn its case against sprinter Christian Coleman, the fastest man in the world this year.

Coleman, 23, had been charged with missing three drugs tests and was facing an automatic one-year ban.

USADA said it had withdrawn the charge after receiving guidance from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Coleman is now free to compete at the World Athletics Championships, beginning in Doha on September 28.

The American ran a world-leading time of 9.81 seconds in the Diamond League in California in June.

 WHY HAS USADA WITHDRAWN ITS CASE?
Under the ‘whereabouts’ system, athletes must let officials know where they will be for one hour every day as well as details of overnight accommodation and training.

Failure to do so – a ‘filing failure’ – three times in a 12-month period could lead to a rule violation under the World Anti-Doping code.

USADA said clarification from WADA had been sought around the interpretation of the current International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI), This concerned the date on which a failure to update an athlete’s changed whereabouts information should be considered to have occurred.

USADA recorded filing failures for Coleman on June 6, 2018, January 16, 2019 and April 26, 2019.

Two of the three tests were directed by USADA, while a third was initiated by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

However, as the ISTI states that filing failures relate back to the first day of the quarter, Coleman contended that his failure to update which was discovered on June 6, 2018, should relate back to April 1, 2018. (BBC Sport)