Doping - Jamaican sprinter Livermore give two-year ban

By Kayon Raynor

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Commonwealth Games 200m bronze medallist Jason Livermore has been given a two-year ban for doping, Jamaica's Independent Disciplinary Panel said on Friday.

The sanction is retroactive to February when Livermore was notified of 2016 positive tests for the banned drugs clomipheneand mestorolone. Chairman Kent Gammon said that based on evidence presented at a hearing last month, the panel did not believe Livermore intended to take the substances to enhance his athletic performance but was negligent in applying for Therapeutic Use Exception.

Comiphene is a medication used to treat infertility in women. Mesterolone is a anabolic steroid used chiefly for athletic and muscle mass enhancement.

The 29-year-old sprinter had testified at the hearing he had declared two medications which contained the banned substances.Livermore was also on the 2014 Commonwealth Games winning sprint relay team with Kemar Bailey-Cole, Nickel Ashmeade and Usain Bolt.

(Reporting by Kayon Raynor in Kingston, Jamaica, editing by Gene Cherry)