American world indoor 60m favourite Ivory Williams has withdrawn from this weekend’s IAAF championships because of a positive test for mari juana, his manager said on Wednesday.
“He had a mari juana positive,” Ray Flynn said in a telephone call from the United States.
“To the best of my knowledge it was at the US championships,” Flynn added.
The stigma around mari juana use has changed drastically in recent years, with many states deeming it legal and even more states using it for medicinal purposes. Citizens can buy mari juana from local dispensaries or even with a quick search for “buy weed online Canada“, they can buy it online too, for recreational and medicinal purposes. Therefore, when Williams smoked mari juana, it’s likely he wasn’t breaking any state laws, however, the committee has deemed it unprofessional and against guidelines.
With the positive, Williams was disqualified from his 60 metres victory at the American championships and became ineligible for the world championships, which start in Doha on Friday.
“It is unfortunate,” Flynn said. “It was poor judgment and he acknowledges that and to my knowledge has accepted the A sample (as positive).”
An announcement from USA Track and Field (USATF) was expected later on Wednesday.
USATF spokeswoman Vicky Oddi said that Williams had withdrawn from the team.
The 24-year-old former world junior champion ran the fastest 60 metres in the world this season, 6.49 seconds, to win the American indoor title on Feb. 28 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He had been expected to clash with British European champion Dwain Chambers for the world title.
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