Jamaicans cleared over drug tests

Five Jamaican athletes have been cleared of doping offences at their national championships in June by their country's anti-doping panel (Jadco).

The commission stated it could not determine whether the unnamed substance is on the prohibited list.

Jadco chairman Kent Gammon said: "Therefore we have not found any of them to be in violation of the code."

Yohan Blake, Sheri-Ann Brooks, Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Marvin Anderson were the athletes involved.

They are now clear to compete in the World Championships, which begin in Berlin on Saturday, 15 August.

But the ruling will be reviewed by athletics' governing body, the IAAF, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The IAAF can challenge any judgements in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), world sport's highest court of appeal, and can also provisionally suspend athletes until CAS delivers a verdict.

All five runners are part of the Caribbean nation's 46-strong team.

Jamaica dominated last summer's Olympic sprint races and is hoping for similar success in Germany.

Blake, who won bronze in the 100m at the world junior championships in 2006, is Olympic champion Usain Bolt's training partner and has recorded the fifth-fastest time over 100m this year.

Anderson is also a 100m runner, while Fothergill and Spence compete in the 400m.

Brooks, the Commonwealth 100m champion, was cleared last week on a technicality because Jadco tested her B sample without her knowledge.

The athletes had reportedly tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine, which is not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.