'She didn't cheat' - Powell defends teammate Fraser in drug saga

Asafa Powell, the former 100-metre world-record holder, has questioned why drugs that are not performance-enhancing should be banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after his training partner, Shelly-Ann Fraser, tested positive for a painkiller she was taking for toothache.

She tested positive for oxycodone at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on May 23 which, though considered a minor offence, could lead to a three-month ban.

She is the eighth Jamaican to fail a drug test in the past year.

Unfortunate oversight

According to the president of her track club, Bruce James, she took the drug, which is neither performance-enhancing nor a masking agent, after suffering excruciating toothache but forgot to declare it to the International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

"It actually makes you perform more slowly," said James. "It makes you nauseous, lethargic and tired. It's a sad and unfortunate oversight on her part."

Powell, a member of the same MVP club as Fraser, said he did not understand why drug that did not enhance performance should be prohibited in the first place.

Painkillers

"If it doesn't help you to perform well, then I don't think it should be on the list," he said.

He added: "She didn't cheat. She took some painkillers, which is something different."

Powell, who returns to the track where he equalled his 100-metre world record of 9.77 seconds four years ago, also denied that there was drug problem among Jamaican athletes.

"I think they are very clean, but there are the young athletes coming up who don't know exactly know what to do, or what to take," he said.

"They might buy an energy drink that has something they don't know about that could cause a positive test. There are some things that we need to be educating them about."

- Reprinted from the Daily Telegraph