26 June 2020

American 100m world champion Christian Coleman should not expect deal after missing dope tests, says IAAF President Coe

IAAF President Sebastian Coe has told 100m world champion Christian Coleman he should not expect to strike a deal to compete in the Olympics following his whereabouts violation.

The 24 year-old had two missed tests and a filing failure within a 12-month period, an offence which could lead to a strict two-year ban as a punishment and mean the American misses the re-scheduled Tokyo Games next summer.

Coleman won the men's 100m at the world championships last year after being cleared to race (PA)

However, Coleman recently hinted at the possibility of being able to take a one-year ban in order to still run in Japan, something Coe does not believe will be the case.

He said: "I would be very surprised if there was any thought that a deal is going to be struck here or in any of these cases. It's just not the system. That is not what the AIU does.

"It's not that complicated. You have one hour every day to say where you are.

"I was comforted by athletes who made the point that this is the world they live in and they're grateful we've got systems in place that are protecting them."

Whereabouts regulations dictate that for one hour every day an athlete has to tell drug testers where they are.

If this is not done three time within the space of a year then a suspension and subsequent ban can be issued.

Coleman won the 100m world title in Doha last year in a blistering time of 9.76 seconds, making him sixth in the list of the all-time fastest 100m runners.

Speaking last year about his somewhat sketchy record with missing drugs tests, Coleman said: "I guess you are insinuating something happened but I didn’t do anything wrong.

"I haven’t been careless. Everyone in this room has not been perfect. I am just a young black man living my dream, people are trying to smear my reputation.

"It is what it is, but I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing and focus on me. Now I’m a world champion and that’s something that nobody can ever take away from me."

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