Dark Day For Track & Field As Gay, Powell Test Positive For PEDs

The sport of track & field suffered "one of its darkest days" yesterday when six athletes, including U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay and Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, tested positive for banned substances. Gay was a "one-time poster boy for clean athletics" (London INDEPENDENT, 7/15). The news was "met with surprise and empathy by many in the sport" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/15).

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE's Philip Hersh notes this comes "almost exactly a decade after the BALCO scandal all but destroyed track's credibility." The "only thing worse for the sport would be if Usain Bolt tested positive" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/15). The N.Y. TIMES' Mary Pilon writes, "Some might see the doping violations as the latest indication that the sport still does not have a grip on the issue. But independent antidoping experts say the frequent doping violations in track and field and cycling are a reflection of those sports' rigorous testing protocols" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/15).