Top US sprinter Coleman cleared of doping charges despite missing 3 tests

America’s fastest sprinter Christian Coleman has been cleared of doping charges by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) despite missing three doping tests, a violation which could have resulted in a two-year ban.

The fastest man in the world over 100m this year, Coleman was charged with a doping violation after having missed three tests over a one-year period.

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The hearing regarding his case should have taken place on Wednesday, however the US anti-doping watchdog dropped the charges against the runner, stating that his whereabouts violation was “for a filing failure.”

USADA failed to test the reigning American 100m champion on June 6, 2018, after the runner didn’t update his location. He also missed doping tests on January 16 and April 26 of this year, prompting USADA to open a doping case against him for missing three tests over 12 months.

However, the sprinter, who is hotly tipped to win gold at next year’s Summer Olympic Games, insisted that his failure to file a location should be dated on the first day of the quarter – not the date of his violation, according to the International Standard for Testing and Investigations.

After consulting with world governing body WADA, the US anti-doping body agreed with Coleman’s interpretation, and dated his violation to April 1, 2018. This meant that his third missed doping test on April 26 was registered more than a year after his first violation, which is not contrary to anti-doping rules.

“Coleman contended that his failure to update, which was discovered on June 6, 2018, should relate back to April 1, 2018, which would be more than 12 months prior to Coleman’s most recent Whereabouts Failure on April 26, 2019,” USADA said in a statement.

“As a result, USADA consulted with WADA to receive an official interpretation of the relevant comment in the ISTI. This interpretation was received on Friday, August 30, 2019, and was that the Filing Failure which USADA had recorded in June 2018, should relate back to April 1, 2018, the first day of the quarter in which the failure to update occurred.”

Coleman is now free to compete at next month’s IAAF World Championships in Doha and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.