PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) Adrian Wallace yesterday refused to use the two-year ban meted out to Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor as a possible feeler of what might happen to Jamaican legend Merlene Ottey.
"Personally I do not link the two because his thing was cocaine which is street drug which cannot show up in your urine unless you ingest it and I am speaking as a layman," Wallace said last night.
"In the case of metabolites of nandrolone (which Ottey tested positive for) the big question is, could her body have produced it?
"The interesting case is the Baumann one, this German guy. His federation initially suspended him and now they have come up with a verdict similar to the Jamaican panel and if you remember, the Germans were the ones who were going full blast against this drug thing and stopped Merlene from competing in their country so I do not know if that one is not having an impact," Wallace concluded.
Sotomayor, the World record holder in the high jump tested positive for cocaine and was stripped of his gold medal. The lanky jumper who maintained his innocence and was backed by his national association and subsequently cleared in August.
The International Amateur Athletic Federation rejected the Cuban Association's finding and the matter was brought before arbitration.
Ottey who tested positive in Lucerne, Switzerland last July for metabolites of nandrolone, was cleared last November by the JAAA and like Sotomayor had her case brought before arbitration as the JAAA's ruling was rejected. The JAAA is still awaiting a ruling on Ottey which they expected latest yesterday but Wallace would not predict the worst for Ottey following Sotomayor's demise.
