Beijing Olympics 100 metres hurdles champion Dawn Harper-Nelson has been banned for three months after she tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Tuesday. USADA said it had accepted Harper-Nelson's explanation that her positive test was caused by medication she was prescribed by a physician to treat hypertension. Harper-Nelson, who also clinched silver in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2012 London Games, said the medication had been prescribed after she was taken to hospital suffering from high blood pressure. "As a result my physician prescribed a non-performance enhancing medication for high blood pressure that contained hydrochlorothiazide, water pill," she wrote on her Twitter page. "I never hid my use of this required medication, but did fail to fully understand how its administration was governed by current doping protocols.

Source: The Star February 08, 2017 03:03 UTC