McLeod accepts two-year ban

Weeks ahead of the National Senior and Junior Championships, the country’s track and field fraternity has been hit with a major blow with the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) revealing in a statement yesterday that national long jumper Carey McLeod has been banned for two years after admitting to three whereabouts failures.

The 2024 World Indoor Championships bronze medallist accepted the sanction after the AIU found he breached Article 2.4 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, which relates to missed tests and filing failures by athletes in a registered testing pool.

The AIU is the independent body created by track and field’s governing body, World Athletics, to govern and manage all integrity-related issues in the sport.

The ban means the 28-year-old will not be able to seek a third straight national long jump title later this month as he will be ineligible to compete until May 28, 2028, just two months ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

He will also be out of contention for this year’s Commonwealth Games and next year’s World Championships.

The ban also includes disqualification of McLeod’s results from May 1 of this year, with forfeiture of any medals, points, prizes, and earnings.

The World Athletics Whereabouts Rule requires elite track and field athletes in the Registered Testing Pool to submit their daily schedules in advance.

This ensures athletes can be located for unannounced, out-of-competition drug testing as part of measures to maintain a clean sport.

The AIU said it recorded three whereabouts failures against McLeod spanning the period from June 30, 2025 to May 1, 2026, the combination of missed tests and filing failures required under World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules to constitute a violation.

The unit noted that the first failure occurred on June 30, 2025, when a Doping Control Officer (DCO) was unable to locate McLeod at an address in St Andrew, Jamaica, during his designated 60-minute testing window between five and 6 o’clock in the morning.

It said McLeod did not respond to the AIU's request for an explanation and did not seek an administrative review.

The second failure was recorded on August 9, 2025, after McLeod filed inaccurate whereabouts information showing him in Arkansas in the United States, while he was competing at the World Athletics Continental Tour event in Budapest, Hungary, on August 12, the AIU said.

According to the AIU statement, the third and final failure came on May 1 this year, when a DCO could not locate McLeod at a Clarendon, Jamaica address during his designated testing window.

On May 26, the same day the AIU confirmed that third failure, McLeod's attorney wrote to the AIU confirming the athlete did not dispute the decision and asked that it be recorded so the "case can move forward urgently".

Two days later, on May 28, McLeod signed and returned an admission of the anti-doping rule violation and accepted the consequences set out by the AIU, waiving his right to a hearing before the Disciplinary Tribunal, the AIU explained.

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission and the World Anti-Doping Agency both retain the right to appeal AIU decisions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.