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Brianna McNeal at the Diamond League in Brussels
Photo:
Zheng Huansong / imago images / Xinhua
Olympic Hurdle Champion Brianna McNeal (USA) is the next prominent athlete to be suspended for violating anti-doping guidelines.
The 29-year-old is said to have manipulated a doping control, as the independent integrity commission AIU of the world athletics association World Athletics (WA) announced.
McNeal won Olympic gold in the 100 meter hurdles in Rio in 2016, and in 2013 she became world champion in Moscow.
With her best time of 12.26 seconds, she is fourth on the all-time world best list.
If the allegations are confirmed, McNeal threatens to miss the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 29-year-old had already been banned for one year in December 2016 because she was not found during doping tests three times between April 2016 and September 2016.
She made her comeback on the international stage in May 2018 at the Diamond League Meeting in Doha, where she finished second with 12.58 seconds.
If she violated the anti-doping regulations again, she would face a longer period of suspension.
100-meter world champion Christian Coleman (USA), 400-meter world champion Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) and South African Luvo Manyonga, ex-world champion in the long jump, are also facing the end of the Olympic Games for violating anti-doping guidelines .
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