Jamaica name Williams in Doha team despite positive dope test

Briana Williams of Jamaica crosses the finish line, Athletics, 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships, Women’s 100 m, Tampere, Finland, 12 July 2018 – Reuters 

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters): Briana Williams was named in Jamaica’s team for the world athletics championships in Doha on Wednesday despite facing a hearing into a positive doping test.

The inclusion of the world under-20 double sprint champion in Jamaica’s 55-member squad is contingent on the outcome of her disciplinary hearing, which is set for 23-25 September in Kingston.

“We have entered Briana Williams in the 100 m and the 4x100 m relay, subject of course to clearance,” Lincoln Eatmon, the second vice president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), told a news conference in Kingston.

“Jonielle Smith is the reserve for the 100 m and is a part of the 4x100 m relay pool,” he added.

Double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson and three-times 100 m world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who are both set to contest the 100 m, 200 m and sprint relay, headline Jamaica’s team for the global championships, which get underway on 27 September.

With Danielle Williams winning the 100 m hurdles Diamond Trophy to secure a wildcard entry to the world championships, the JAAA has named four athletes to contest the sprint hurdles, with Janeek Brown, Megan Tapper and Yanique Thompson completing the line-up.

Akeem Bloomfield, who only contested the 200 m at the Jamaican trials in June but finished third in the 400 m final at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Brussels in a time of 44.67 seconds, will contest one-lap event in Doha.

Diamond League finalist Nathon Allen, who also missed the trials due to illness, has been named as a reserve for the 400 m.

Yohan Blake, 100 m world Champion in 2011, and Omar Mcleod, the defending sprint hurdles champion, headline the men’s team, which also includes Commonwealth discus champion Fedrick Dacres.