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Bolt's friend Blake named as one of five athletes to have failed a drugs test
By PATRICK COLLINS
Last updated at 10:31 PM on 25th July 2009
As they gathered in their thousands for the London Grand Prix, a cloud passed across the sun. And the entire sport of track and field shivered in apprehension.
Cut out for glory: But Usain Bolt's relay team were disqualified after winning at Crystal Palace
Yohan Blake, the 19-year-old Jamaican sprinter who is a friend and training partner of Usain Bolt, has been named as one of five Jamaican athletes to test positive for a banned substance.
Blake is coached by Glen Mills, who also coaches the world’s fastest man. On Friday evening at Crystal Palace, he finished second behind Bolt in the 100 metres.
Moments after the race, he was asked about early reports of failed tests following the Jamaican championships in Kingston last month.
‘I’m clean’, he said. ‘I just heard for the first time now.’ And he hurried away.
But yesterday it was confirmed that Blake was the most accomplished athlete of the quintet. A member of Bolt’s Racers Track Club, he has run 9.93sec for 100 metres and is seen as one of a small band of sprinters who might one day challenge history’s greatest sprinter.
In recent weeks, Blake has been criticised in the Jamaican media for his exuberant celebrations in Bolt’s wake. But he is a member of the Jamaican team for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin, and a positive test places his
future in the balance.
Two factors must be stressed: Bolt himself continues to pass every drugs test he takes — and he is tested repeatedly. Also, the substance involved in Blake’s case is reported to be a mild stimulant, possibly a social drug, which may not necessarily attract the most stringent punishment — and perhaps not even a competitive ban.
Yet the very mention of ‘Bolt’ and ‘drugs’ in the same sentence conjures up track and field’s darkest dream.
His performances in Beijing were the stuff of miracles and wonders. Titles were won and records were broken with wondrous ease and beguiling flamboyance. In the course of a single Olympiad, he became by an impossible distance the biggest
name in his sphere, and one of the pre-eminent figures in world sport.
As track and field searched hopefully for a hero, Bolt was a gift from the gods. Crystal Palace was sold out on Friday and yesterday, largely on the back of his talent and charisma.
Team-mates: But Usain Bolt has distanced himself from Yohan Blake's drugs test problems
London’s Jamaican community turned out in force. There were steel bands and yellow and black flags and a careless air of carnival.
Once they were attracted only by fast bowlers and plundering batsmen, now they brought their children to watch and wonder at the speed of Usain. And the extraordinary young man did not let them down. Bolt reels off sub-10sec sprints
in yawning profusion, and his 9.91sec was achieved on auto-pilot.
Yet, later, he was asked about developments in his native island, and he answered seriously. ‘It’s sad for the sport because things were progressing well. This is a step backwards,’ he said. ‘They will question everybody again now, especially people from
Jamaica ... It shows that when people get tested they get caught. I’m trying my best to show that you can achieve things clean. People have to know you can’t get away with it.’
The potential damage to the island’s reputation was demonstrated by Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, calling an emergency meeting with track and field officials to discuss the test results.
And the controversy which had hounded Blake through the past 48 hours took an improbable turn last night when the Racers Track Club ran an extraordinary sprint relay, flashing the baton between Daniel Bailey, Blake, Mario Forsythe and Bolt in 37.46sec, the fourth fastest time in history.
While the Palace crowd acclaimed the winners, word came from the judges that the team — which had just beaten the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Australia — had been disqualified, apparently from a faulty change involving Bailey and Blake. Blake
was deemed to have begun his run too soon.
Blake refused to answer questions and there will be many in the weeks ahead. But even the relay setback could not remove the smile from Bolt’s face. He is in precisely the form he would have wanted on the brink of the championships.
Once again, he was ready to reveal that incomparable talent, to experience the kind of adulation he had received in such measure during his London adventure.
The responsibility on him is immense. Like no athlete before him, he really does carry the future of the entire sport upon his shoulders, and he must be aware of the onerous
burden.
And, as the crowds trooped home, the meeting referee reviewed the video evidence and rescinded the disqualification. The whole affair had ended on a tranquil note.
Track and field must hope and pray that the tranquillity endures. For these are troublesome times. And everything is at stake.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1202190/Bolts-friend-Blake-named-athletes-failed-drugs-test.html#ixzz0MPY04aDX
By PATRICK COLLINS
Last updated at 10:31 PM on 25th July 2009
As they gathered in their thousands for the London Grand Prix, a cloud passed across the sun. And the entire sport of track and field shivered in apprehension.
Cut out for glory: But Usain Bolt's relay team were disqualified after winning at Crystal PalaceYohan Blake, the 19-year-old Jamaican sprinter who is a friend and training partner of Usain Bolt, has been named as one of five Jamaican athletes to test positive for a banned substance.
Blake is coached by Glen Mills, who also coaches the world’s fastest man. On Friday evening at Crystal Palace, he finished second behind Bolt in the 100 metres.
Moments after the race, he was asked about early reports of failed tests following the Jamaican championships in Kingston last month.
‘I’m clean’, he said. ‘I just heard for the first time now.’ And he hurried away.
But yesterday it was confirmed that Blake was the most accomplished athlete of the quintet. A member of Bolt’s Racers Track Club, he has run 9.93sec for 100 metres and is seen as one of a small band of sprinters who might one day challenge history’s greatest sprinter.
In recent weeks, Blake has been criticised in the Jamaican media for his exuberant celebrations in Bolt’s wake. But he is a member of the Jamaican team for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Berlin, and a positive test places his
future in the balance.
Two factors must be stressed: Bolt himself continues to pass every drugs test he takes — and he is tested repeatedly. Also, the substance involved in Blake’s case is reported to be a mild stimulant, possibly a social drug, which may not necessarily attract the most stringent punishment — and perhaps not even a competitive ban.
Yet the very mention of ‘Bolt’ and ‘drugs’ in the same sentence conjures up track and field’s darkest dream.
His performances in Beijing were the stuff of miracles and wonders. Titles were won and records were broken with wondrous ease and beguiling flamboyance. In the course of a single Olympiad, he became by an impossible distance the biggest
name in his sphere, and one of the pre-eminent figures in world sport.
As track and field searched hopefully for a hero, Bolt was a gift from the gods. Crystal Palace was sold out on Friday and yesterday, largely on the back of his talent and charisma.
Team-mates: But Usain Bolt has distanced himself from Yohan Blake's drugs test problems London’s Jamaican community turned out in force. There were steel bands and yellow and black flags and a careless air of carnival.
Once they were attracted only by fast bowlers and plundering batsmen, now they brought their children to watch and wonder at the speed of Usain. And the extraordinary young man did not let them down. Bolt reels off sub-10sec sprints
in yawning profusion, and his 9.91sec was achieved on auto-pilot.
Yet, later, he was asked about developments in his native island, and he answered seriously. ‘It’s sad for the sport because things were progressing well. This is a step backwards,’ he said. ‘They will question everybody again now, especially people from
Jamaica ... It shows that when people get tested they get caught. I’m trying my best to show that you can achieve things clean. People have to know you can’t get away with it.’
The potential damage to the island’s reputation was demonstrated by Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, calling an emergency meeting with track and field officials to discuss the test results.
And the controversy which had hounded Blake through the past 48 hours took an improbable turn last night when the Racers Track Club ran an extraordinary sprint relay, flashing the baton between Daniel Bailey, Blake, Mario Forsythe and Bolt in 37.46sec, the fourth fastest time in history.
While the Palace crowd acclaimed the winners, word came from the judges that the team — which had just beaten the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Australia — had been disqualified, apparently from a faulty change involving Bailey and Blake. Blake
was deemed to have begun his run too soon.
Blake refused to answer questions and there will be many in the weeks ahead. But even the relay setback could not remove the smile from Bolt’s face. He is in precisely the form he would have wanted on the brink of the championships.
Once again, he was ready to reveal that incomparable talent, to experience the kind of adulation he had received in such measure during his London adventure.
The responsibility on him is immense. Like no athlete before him, he really does carry the future of the entire sport upon his shoulders, and he must be aware of the onerous
burden.
And, as the crowds trooped home, the meeting referee reviewed the video evidence and rescinded the disqualification. The whole affair had ended on a tranquil note.
Track and field must hope and pray that the tranquillity endures. For these are troublesome times. And everything is at stake.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1202190/Bolts-friend-Blake-named-athletes-failed-drugs-test.html#ixzz0MPY04aDX
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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