Great Britain sprinter banned for four years after failing drugs test

Olympic sprinter Nigel Levine has been banned from all sport for four years after failing a drugs test.

Levine, a 400m runner, was provisionally suspended in February when found to have tested positive for the asthma drug Clenbuterol in the highest profile doping case to hit British athletics for a decade.

A mainstay of the British 4x400m team and a triple world indoor relay medallist, Levine had been planning his competitive comeback after breaking his pelvis in a serious motorbike accident in January 2017.

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However, he has now been banned from competing until 13 December, 2021, when he will be 32.

The UK Anti-Doping ruling reveals Levine provided an out-of-competition test at Brunel University on 24 November, 2017. When informed of the presence of clenbuterol, he insisted it was due to two contaminated supplements he had been taking.

He was unable to prove that claim and also failed to identify any supplements he had taken when providing the test.

Nicole Sapstead, UKAD chief executive, said: “All athletes must adhere to the principle of strict liability, and are solely responsible for any substances found in their system.

“Mr Levine is an elite athlete, who has competed at the Olympic Games, European and World Championships, and has received significant anti-doping education throughout his career.

“It is up to role models such as Mr Levine to uphold the highest standards when it comes to anti-doping, ensuring they check all supplements thoroughly and are 100 per cent certain they know that what they are consuming is not prohibited.”

Levine, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Northamptonshire, has not raced since September 2016.

His career was thrown into doubt when the motorbike he was riding with team-mate James Ellington collided with a car while on a British Athletics training camp in January 2017.

That accident left him hospitalised for weeks, although he returned to training later that year, when he failed the drugs test. Ellington is also yet to return to competition after recovering from life-threatening injuries.

British athletics has been largely free of high-profile failed drugs tests since Dwain Chambers was banned for two years when he tested positive for multiple substances in 2003.

Former 110m hurdler Callum Priestley had been considered one of the country's most exciting track prospects until he tested positive for clenbuterol in 2010 and quit the sport after he was handed a two-year ban.

Clenbuterol is used primarily in the treatment of asthma and other breathing disorders, but has performance-enhancing qualities as a weight-loss drug.

The most famous case saw Alberto Contador stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after testing positive for the substance.