Lifetime Ban for Steve Mullings

Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings is to serve a lifetime ban from Athletics. The sentence was handed down  this afternoon by a disciplinary panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.

Last Thursday the three member panel found him guilty of taking the masking agent Furosemide.
The prohibited substance was detected in his blood samples after competing at the country's national trials in June 2011.

Prior to that, Mullings had been the fastest athlete in the 100 metres for the season, clocking an impressive  9.79 at the 2011 Prefontaine Classic following that up with several other sub 10 performances.

Mullings has always maintained his innocence and has indicated his intent to appeal against the conviction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This is the second ban for the 28 year old who served a two-year suspension in 2004 for taking testosterone.    

Decision Day for Mullings

Jamaican athlete Steve Mullings will know today whether he will be allowed to continue his dream of becoming the world's best sprinter. A three day anti-doping panel will convene in Kingston Jamaica to decide his fate.

Mulling's who's 2011 season got off to a flying start, was forced to cut it short after he tested positive for the banned substance Furosemide during the Jamaica's National Trials in June of this year.

In 2004 he served a two year suspension for abnormal testosterone levels in his body. Mullings who is currently based in the U.S. has always maintained his innocence.
A decision is expected sometime after 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Original Story:  http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/D-Day-for-Steve_10183889#ixzz1dxo1vT1K 

Usain Bolt and Sally Pearson crowned IAAF Athletes of the Year

Usain Bolt                                                               Sally Pearson

I'm sure by now all would have heard the news, Jamaica's Usain Bolt and Australia's Sally Pearson copped the prestigious title IAAF 2011 Male and Female Athlete of the year.

Let's start with Sally. Up against Kenya's outstanding distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot and New Zealand's genius shot putter Valerie Adams, I think it's fair to say Pearson was the obvious choice. The Australian became one of the biggest highlights of the world championships, after she decimated the field in a thrilling 100m hurdles final, that saw her clock an astounding 12.28sec. The time was the 4th fastest EVER and the fastest we've seen in the event in two decades.

2011 Season Wrap and 2012 Predictions

Now that the dust from last week's spectacular performances in Brussels has settled, I can finally reminisce on the season in it's entirety. It's fair to say Yohan Blake, Sally Pearson and Kirani James were the biggest track stars to emerge in 2011.

James and Blake came from relative obscurity to being on the edge of greatness.Let's start with Blake. His journey took him from a 3rd place finish in the 2006 World Junior championships, to breaking the 10 second barrier in 2009, to claiming gold in Daegu. This season the world watched as Blake transformed from promising young sprinter into a world champion and top athlete. Even if he never breaks the world records in either sprints, two gold medals and a lifetime best of 19.26 in the 200m are enough to put him down in the history books.

Brussels Diamond League: Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt, Danielle Carruthers and Kennesia Bekele

Today's meet in Brussels brought an end to what can only be described as a superb track and field season. There were several fabulous performances but the real shocker was Yohan Blake's jaw dropping 19.26 sec in the men's 200 metres,  the second fastest time EVER.

Don't get me wrong Blakes' victory is not a total surprise, I remember him running 19.78 in Monaco last year, so I did peg him to beat Walter Dix to the  line with maybe a 19.75 or even a 19.73. To say I grossly miscalculated would be putting it mildly. I honestly had to do a double take on the time. This young man stunned the audience and in the process banished Usain Bolt's earlier performance of 9.76 in the 100m to distant memory.

Daegu Wrap - Day 9: Usain Bolt, Carmelita Jeter, Christian Taylor, and Mo Farah

The men's 4x100m provided the 1st and only world record of the championships ad what a fitting end to 9 days of glorious performances on the track.

The Jamaican quartet of Nesta carter,Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt sped to a jaw dropping world and national record of 37.04 sec.
Carter started brilliantly on the first leg, giving Jamaica a sizable lead from the get go, handing over to Frater who maintained it, then to Blake who literally flew around the bend to Bolt who exploded on the backstretch. And to think an injured Asafa Powell wasn't even on the team. The men ran a mind blowing average of 9.25 seconds each.

Daegu Wrap - Day 8: Sally Pearson, Usain Bolt and Matthias De Zordo

Sally Pearson

Ending the curse of cover, Australia's Sally Pearson delivered one of the most spectacular displays in history giving her country it's first gold medal of the championships. The sprint hurdler shocked the world with a brilliant 12.36 win the semi finals, which tied her at 6th place on the all time list, only to come back in the final and run a blistering 12.28.


Thus clocking a personal best, an Australian and Championship record, which puts her squarely down in history as the 4th fastest ever in this event. This is also the fastest time for this event in 23 years. With an unbeaten streak all season Pearson was naturally the pre-race favourite but no one, myself included could have anticipated, the absolute destruction she brought in the final.