Powell, Simpson settle with company on banned substance

Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson have reached an out-of-court settlement with the company that sold them a banned substance which led to their suspension, a media report said Thursday.

There were, however, no details of the settlement with Dynamic Life Nutrition LLC, the company that sold them tainted supplement Epiphany D1, reports CMC.

Powell and Simpson sued the company earlier this year after discovering that the Epiphany D1 included ingredients that were not listed on the label.

"Both Asafa and I are happy that we were able to settle this out of court," declared Simpson, a World Championship silver medallist, on Wednesday.

"The legal process is tedious, but we don't think about it when we are on the track. We have a very capable team, and both of us are now extra careful about our diets and supplement regimen."

Powell and Simpson took Epiphany D1 as part of their training regimen, but later found out that the supplement contained oxilofrine, a stimulant which the company failed to let consumers know.

The two Jamaicans were suspended from the sport for six months after the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) found that they did not know the stimulant was present in Epiphany D1.

"There is no way to really explain the kind of damage a ban has on an athlete's reputation," said Powell.

"For us it was especially painful, because we really let down our countrymen. There's no doubt that we're going to continue to fight to repair it and regain the trust of my fans and fans of the sport."

Sherone Simpson is a three-time Olympian, winning the 4X100m relay gold and silver medals, as well as the 100m silver medal.

Powell has run the most sub-10 100m times in the recorded history of track and field and is the first Jamaican to ever hold the world record for the 100m event, with times of 9.77 and 9.74, respectively.