Kamy Keshmiri, the U.S. Olympic team's leading contender for a medal in the discus at the Barcelona Olympics, has been suspended by the IAAF for alleged drug use and will probably miss the Summer Games, a report says.
"Kamy Keshmiri has a positive. He is suspended pending a hearing," said Jayne Pierce, information officer for the International Amateur Athletic Federation, in a copyrighted story published today in the Reno Gazette-Journal.The IAAF is the international governing body for track and field.
Keshmiri, who has the longest discus throw in the world this year at 232 feet, 5 inches, said he plans to appeal the action, but he realizes his chances of being cleared in time for the Olympics are slim.
"By the time I get a hearing, people will have forgotten who won the Olympics," he said. "I could win every appeal, but it still would have to go the IAAF."
Keshmiri, 23, is a three-time NCAA discus champion. He won the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 22. Two days later, he was notified by TAC that he had tested positive in a "random, out-of-competition test."
The Gazette-Journal reported the test proved positive for methandienone, a steroid.
Keshmiri has maintained his innocence and said the toxicologist who witnessed the testing said the sample proved negative. He claims he is the victim of a vendetta by TAC because of his criticisms toward the organization.