'Did not disclose the contents'

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, who tested positive for a banned stimulant last June, testified that he had failed to disclose all the supplements he was taking then because he could not remember their names.

The 31-year-old former 100-metre world record holder during a hearing here on Tuesday said that he was given nine nutritional supplements by his physical trainer, Canadian Chris Xuereb, but he listed only three of them on his form because the others were new to him and he could not recall the brand names.

“All the supplements were new to me, so I could not remember all of them,” Powell explained to the three-member Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel. “I could not remember after all the excitement at the trials.”

According to anti-doping rules, athletes are obliged to list everything they have taken in the last seven days when they submit to a drug test. When asked whether he was acquainted with these rules, the once fastest man replied: “I am now.”

Among the absentees from his list was Epiphany D1, which lab tests later found to contain the prohibited stimulant oxilofrone.

He claimed he was advised to take the supplements after Xuereb, who the sprinter described as a good friend, prescribed these without checking whether they were on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned products. “I don’t know the list but I knew of the list,” he said, “I know there is a list we are supposed to check.”

Powell’s hearing comes after his former training partner Sherone Simpson, a three-time Olympic medalist, appeared before a disciplinary panel last week to explain her positive test.