Report: U.S. sprinter Coleman could face Olympic ban after missing drug tests
Christian Coleman may be prohibited from competing at the 2020 Olympics after he missed three drug tests within a 12-month period, sources told The Associated Press' Eddie Pells and Pat Graham.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency considers absences as "whereabouts failures" and can treat them as positive tests and doping violations.
Three missed tests form the equivalent of a doping violation. The common sanction for a first violation is a two-year ban, which would keep Coleman out of next month's IAAF World Athletics Championships and the Tokyo Games.
Athletes must notify drug-testing authorities of their location so that they can be randomly tested without notice. If an athlete fails to disclose this information or isn't present when the tester shows up, then they will be assessed a violation.
Coleman was one of the names expected to take the torch from legend Usain Bolt after the Jamaican retired from track and field after the 2017 world championships. In that same meet, Coleman finished second in the 100-meter final to countryman Justin Gatlin and anchored the Americans to silver in the 4x100m relay.
He placed first in the 100 and second in the 200 at the United States Track and Field Outdoor Championships in July. He has a personal-best time of 9.79 and 19.85 seconds in the 100 and 200, respectively, and he was considered one of the favorites in both events at the upcoming world championships.
The 23-year-old has posted the world's fastest time in the 100 for the past three years.