KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – World and Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has escaped the maximum two-year penalty but is still poised to face some form of disciplinary action for her failed drugs test in May.
In a release on Wednesday, the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association described Fraser’s case as “exceptional” and said the IAAF’s Doping Review Board had agreed that “special circumstances are met for a reduction of sanction in the athlete’s case from two years”.
“In accordance with the IAAF Rule 38.12, the Tribunal will now be deciding on the appropriate sanction to be imposed,” the JAAA’s indicated.
The 23-year-old Fraser returned a positive test for the non-performance enhancing drug oxycodone, at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on May 23. She said she had taken the painkiller for a toothache.
Though a minor offence, she was provisionally suspended by track and field’s world governing body, the IAAF.
Having examined Fraser’s case, the JAAA Tribunal said they had found it to be “exceptional and special” and therefore referred it to the IAAF’s Doping Review Board for their determination.
Fraser shot from virtual obscurity to win the 100m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics before repeating the feat a year later at the World Championships in Berlin.