Sally Pearson rival Dawn Harper-Nelson cops drug ban

Sally Pearson’s rival, Dawn Harper-Nelson, has been suspended for three months after testing positive to a banned substance.

Australia's Sally Pearson, Britain’s Tiffany Porter, centre, and US athlete Dawn Harper-Nelson

Sally Pearson’s long-time rival, American Dawn Harper-Nelson, has been suspended for three months after testing positive for a banned substance. The US Anti-Doping Agency announced the sanction yesterday.

Harper-Nelson won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Games when Australian star Pearson took silver and claimed silver when Pearson triumphed four years later in London.

USADA said the 32-year-old Harper-Nelson tested positive for the prohibited substance hydrochlorothiazide and related metabolites in an out-of-competition sample.

She told USADA it was caused by blood pressure medication prescribed by a physician to treat hypertension.

In a statement posted on her Twitter account, Harper-Nelson said she had learned “a valuable lesson and hope my mistake will serve as a reminder to all athletes to be diligent in thoroughly checking any and all prescribed medications.”

Her period of ineligibility started December 1.

Meanwhile, embattled Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter will return to the track this weekend in his first meeting since he was stripped of his Beijing Olympics gold medal after a retroactive test uncovered a banned substance in his sample.

Carter’s retested sample from 2008 was found to have traces of the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, the International Olympic Committee said last month.

Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team — which included Usain Bolt — were stripped of their gold medals.

Last year in Rio, Bolt completed a “treble treble” of Olympic gold medals in winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles at three successive Games. Bolt has already returned his Beijing relay medal.

Agencies