Carey McLeod gets two-year athletics ban after AIU whereabouts breach

Jamaican long jumper Carey McLeod, 28, has accepted a two-year suspension from the sport after acknowledging three whereabouts failures, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit. McLeod is a two-time national champion and won bronze at the 2024 World Indoor Championships.

The AIU said McLeod agreed to the penalty after it determined that he had violated Article 2.4 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules. That section covers missed doping tests and failures to properly file whereabouts details by athletes who are part of a registered testing pool.

In a statement issued on Monday, the AIU said McLeod will not be allowed to compete again until May 28, 2028. The decision also wipes out his performances from May 1, 2026, and requires him to give up any medals, points, prizes and earnings connected to results from that date onward.

The AIU, which operates independently under World Athletics, was created to address doping and integrity matters in track and field. It said McLeod's case involved three recorded failures between June 30, 2025, and May 1, 2026, the combination needed under the rules to establish an anti-doping violation.

According to the unit, the first incident was logged on June 30, 2025, when a Doping Control Officer went to a St Andrew address in Jamaica but could not find McLeod during his declared one-hour testing period from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. The AIU said McLeod neither provided an explanation when asked nor requested an administrative review.

A second failure was entered on August 9, 2025. The AIU said McLeod's filed whereabouts placed him in Arkansas in the United States, but he was in Budapest, Hungary, on August 12 competing at a World Athletics Continental Tour meet. The unit said he again gave no response when asked to explain.

The final failure was recorded on May 1, 2026, after a Doping Control Officer was unable to find McLeod at a Clarendon address during his declared testing hour, the AIU said. On May 26, when the AIU confirmed that third failure, McLeod's lawyer told the unit the athlete was not challenging the finding and asked that this be noted so the "case can move forward urgently."

McLeod signed and returned the admission form on May 28, accepting the anti-doping rule breach and the consequences imposed by the AIU. By doing so, he also gave up his right to have the matter heard before the Disciplinary Tribunal.

The ruling means all his results from May 1, 2026, are disqualified, with any medals, titles, points and prize money from that point forfeited. The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission and the World Anti-Doping Agency may still appeal the outcome to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.