US sprinter Coleman cleared as USADA withdraws case

Christian Coleman has been cleared to take part in this month's World Athletics Championships after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dropped charges against him on a technicality, a statement said.

US sprinter Coleman, the fastest man over 100m this year, had been facing a two-year suspension after drug-testers were unable to locate him on three separate occasions in a 12-month period.

However, USADA said in a statement that after receiving guidance from the World Anti-Doping Agency on how the 12-month window should be calculated, it was withdrawing its case.

"Consistent application of the global anti-doping rules is essential in every case," USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said in a statement on Monday.

"In this case we applied the rules to Mr Coleman in the manner that USADA understands should be applied to any other international-level athlete.

"We must approach every case with the primary goal of delivering fairness to athletes under the rules and providing transparency and consistency in order to build their trust and support for the anti-doping system."
- 'Presumption of innocence' -
==============================
"Given these facts, USADA has determined that under the applicable rules, and in order to ensure that Coleman is treated consistently with other athletes under the World Anti-Doping Program, Coleman should not be considered to have three Whereabouts Failures in a 12-month period."