A logo is pictured on the new headquarters for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an independent institution that resolves around 900 legal disputes in the field of sport through arbitration and mediation, in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
(Reuters) -Surinamese sprinter Issamade Asinga has lost his appeal against a four-year doping ban after claiming that contaminated Gatorade gummies he received as part of a prize caused his positive test.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the World Athletics sanction on Thursday, confirming that the 20-year-old remains ineligible from May 2024, with credit for his provisional suspension served since August 2023.
Asinga tested positive for metabolites of the banned substance GW1516 during an out-of-competition control in July 2023, prompting a suspension by the World Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
The Atlanta-born athlete argued that the result stemmed from Gatorade gummies given to him after being named the brand's 2023 U.S. national boys track and field player of the year, saying he had eaten them a week before the test.
A World Athletics disciplinary tribunal first imposed the sanction in May 2024, which CAS has now confirmed following a public virtual hearing in June.
"Mr Asinga provided the AIU with an explanation that the presence of metabolites was due to Gatorade products he had been given after being awarded the title," CAS said.
"The CAS panel found that the athlete had failed to establish that, on the balance of probabilities, it was more likely than not that the gummies he ingested were contaminated with GW1516."
CAS also ruled that Asinga had not shown his violation was unintentional, meaning "a reduced sanction for No Fault or Negligence was not applicable."
Arbitrators found nothing to suggest the Gatorade gummies Asinga said he ate before his test contained anything stronger than sugar.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
