Jamaican panel finds sprinter Mullings guilty of doping

Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings was found guilty Thursday of using the banned substance furosemide by a three-man disciplinary panel and now faces a lifetime ban from athletics. Mullings was found guilty by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission of taking the powerful diuretic, which can serve as a masking agent for other drugs. It showed up in his urine sample after he placed third in the 100 metres final at the Jamaican National Trials on June 24. "We have listened to the evidences in the hearing for the past two weeks and we have considered the evidences carefully," panel chair Lennox Gayle said. "It is a unanimous verdict that Mr. Mullings is guilty of having furosemide in both his A and B samples." This is the second failed drug test for Mullings who was banned for two years in 2004 after he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, also at the Jamaican championships. Under IAAF rules, an athlete who receives a second ban for a prohibitive substance will be banned for life from taking part in the sport. The Florida-based athlete went on to win the 200 metres at the Jamaican trials but was left off the Jamaica team that took part in the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in August and early September. Thursday's ruling also means that Mullings is likely out of next year's London Olympics. The ruling was handed down after three days of meetings over two weeks by the three-member panel which included lawyer Gayle, football administrator Peter Prendergast and Dr Japheth Ford. Mullings, 28, has continuously maintained his innocence and said earlier he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sports. He was fifth in the 200m at the 2009 world championships in Berlin and was part of the gold medal winning 4x100m relay team.