ITALIAN POLICE RAID JAMAICAN SPRINTERS HOTEL AND SEIZE DRUGS AFTER THEY TESTED POSITIVE FOR BANNED STIMULANTS

ASAFA POWELL & SHERONE SIMPSON
Italian police confiscated unknown substances on Monday in a raid on the hotel where Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson were staying after each tested positive for banned stimulants.
Rooms of the athletes and trainer Christopher Xuereb of Canada were searched and drugs and muscle supplements were seized, Udine police captain Antonio Pisapia told the Associated Press.

Pisapia said it was unclear if the drugs and muscle supplements were legal or illicit and that the substances were being analyzed.

"We are examining the substances now," Pisapia said. "No arrests have been made and nobody has been placed under investigation."

The raid took place at the Fra i Pini hotel in Lignano Sabbiadoro in northeast Italy.
Powell, a former 100m world record holder, and Simpson tested positive for the stimulant oxilofrine at the Jamaican championships last month, their agent announced on Sunday.

The police captain with the specialized NAS unit added that Powell and Simpson were informed of the positive tests on Saturday morning.

A local athletics meet is scheduled for Tuesday in Lignano and the Jamaicans had been scheduled to compete as they do most years. However, neither Powell nor Simpson were on start lists released on Monday.

The news of the positive tests for Powell and Simpson came the same day that American former 100m record holder Tyson Gay revealed he had also failed a doping test.
Powell was the last man to hold the 100m world record before Usain Bolt broke it in 2008.

He also helped the Jamaicans to the 4x100m relay gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Simpson won Olympic gold in the women's 4x100m relay in 2004 and silver in 2012, along with an individual silver in the 100m in 2008.

The doping positives come a month after another Jamaican Olympic champion, Veronica Campbell-Brown, tested positive for a banned diuretic.

In another development, Adidas on Monday suspended its sponsorship of Gay after the American's positive doping test.

The sportswear giant acted a day after Gay disclosed a banned substance was detected in an out-of-competition test in May and he had pulled out of next month's world championships in Moscow.

"We are shocked by these recent allegations and, even if we presume his innocence until proven otherwise, our contract with Tyson is currently suspended," Adidas said in a statement.

The 30-year-old Gay, the American record-holder in the 100m, had been backed by Adidas since 2005.

"During this time, he has been a great ambassador for the sport of track and field and our brand," said Adidas, which is based at Herzogenaurach in Germany.

The company is invoking the clause in Gay's contract relating to doping.

"Adidas has a clear policy on doping and drug use," it said. "Each of the agreements with our athletes include a clear clause which states that the agreement shall be terminated by Adidas if the athlete is found guilty of the possession or use of drugs or any other prohibited substance by the relevant governing sports body having jurisdiction over the athlete."

Gay has said he will have his B sample tested soon, possibly as early as this week.
He has not disclosed the banned substance that led to the positive test, but said he put his "trust in someone and I was let down".

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