US sprint star Coleman risks ban over missed drug tests: reports

United States sprint star Christian Coleman could face suspension after failing to make himself available for three drugs tests, multiple reports said Thursday.

Coleman, 23, the fastest man in the world over 100 meters this year and the favourite for next month's World Championships in Qatar, has missed three separate tests in the past 12 months.

Britain's Daily Mail and The Times newspaper reported that Coleman, a late withdrawal from last Sunday's Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, is challenging one of the alleged "whereabouts" failures.

Under internationally recognised anti-doping rules, athletes are required to make their exact whereabouts known to drug-testers up to 90 days in advance in order to facilitate out-of-competition testing.

Athletes who fail to make themselves available for three drug tests are treated the same as athletes who fail a drug test and face an automatic suspension.

Any suspension of Coleman would represent another bodyblow against athletics just as the sport attempts to move on from the Russian doping scandal.

Coleman, the world record holder over 60m and world indoor 60m champion, has emerged as the most likely successor to Usain Bolt following the Jamaican sprint king's retirement in 2017.

Coleman was a silver medallist at the 2017 World Championships in London behind mentor Justin Gatlin, and has a personal best of 9.79sec. He has the quickest 100m time of 2019 with a world leading 9.81sec set in Stanford, California in June.

The circumstances of Coleman's alleged missed tests were not revealed. Coleman's agent, Emanuel Hudson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency, meanwhile, would not confirm a case involving Coleman.

"In general, for any potential violation a full investigation will be conducted and the case must be resolved before information is made public by USADA," a spokesman told AFP.

- Olympic ban threat -
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