Olympic sprinter Deajah Stevens banned for 18 months for missing drug tests
The ban includes the rescheduled Tokyo games in 2021.
Track star Deajah Stevens may miss the upcoming rescheduled Tokyo Olympics due to a ban handed down for missing required tests.
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NBC Sports reports the sprinter missed multiple drug tests resulting in a suspension until August 15, 2021. Their reports claim Stevens missed three drug tests in total in 2019, the last of which was in November 2019.
Her 18-month ban was backdated to February 17, the original date she requested an expedited case. NBC Sports reports Stevens’ lawyer requested her suspension be backdated to the final missed test, keeping her eligible to compete in the 2021 Olympics.
According to the report, the test administrator made attempts to reach Stevens to carry out the procedures. The first time, Stephens says she didn’t hear knocking on her door and said her cell phone battery was dead. The second time, she’d changed her number after being stalked and threats were made to her fiancé.
NBC Sports notes a member of the disciplinary board expressed a level of compassion for Stevens.
“Despite our sympathy for the athlete, we have not been satisfied on a balance of probability that her behavior was not negligent and did not cause or contribute to her failure to be available for testing,” a disciplinary tribunal found according to NBC Sports.
They continue, “She already had missed two doping tests in the last six months. She should have been on red alert and conscious that she could not miss the next one.”
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Stevens has ranked globally in the 200-meter race. She represented the United States during the 2016 Olympic Games placing 7th. According to Athletics Integrity, throughout her career, the sprinter has received drug testing and never produced a positive result.
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