The 31-year-old, winner of 200 metres golds medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, gold in the 4x100m relay at Athens and holder of a further two Olympic silvers and two bronzes, tested positive for lasix, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) considers a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs, at the International Invitational World Challenge on May 4.

"The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) can now confirm that a case concerning Mrs Veronica Campbell-Brown is currently ongoing," national governing body President Warren Blake said.

"The matter is being handled according to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) rules.

"She has been provisionally suspended from competition awaiting the outcome of the disciplinary panel that will be empanelled to hear this case.

"We also wish to point out that Mrs Veronica Campbell-Brown voluntarily withdrew herself from competition and accepted the provisional suspension."

Her agency, On Track Management, claim Campbell-Brown had been using a cream - which she declared on her doping control form - containing the prohibited drug to treat a leg injury, although it is not yet known if the chemical appeared on the label of the product.

These circumstances could mean the athlete avoids the maximum two-year doping ban, but WADA has a strict liability policy under which athletes are held responsible for any drug found in their body.

Campbell-Brown, who has also won two World Championship titles, issued an apology through her management team, who said the result had come as a shock to her and insisted she is not a drugs cheat.


"There are two things that are unmistakable about Veronica Campbell-Brown," read the statement from the company, who are based in Atlanta.

"On one hand she has had good success on the track and on the other she has always stood for and carried herself with dignity.

"That she should now be accused of infringing on anti-doping rules is a shock to her, her loyal supporters and many others in not just sports but also the other spheres into which she has extended herself to help.

"Veronica is not a cheat, she has via hard work and dedication accomplished a record on the track which is absolutely remarkable.

"Her faith, which rest not in device or creed, will see her through this dark period.

"Due to her determination to vigorously pursue the clearing of her name, she will desist from being vocal suffice it to say, while not accepting guilt of wilfully taking a banned substance, she wholeheartedly apologises to her family, Jamaica, her sponsors, the governing body, the world athletics family, her supporters as well as those she worked with in various non-athletic causes for any embarrassment and or hurt this devastating news has caused.

"She remains an ardent believer in the purity of competition, the beauty of the sport and resolute in the fact that unearned suffering has redemptive qualities."

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