Why was 19-year-old Issam Asinga banned? The reason he was stripped of his U20 100m world record and granted a four-year ban

Issam Asinga was granted a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit which deemed its validity from 9 August 2023 for using a prohibited substance. The news about the Surinamese athlete, who previously held the world record in the 100m in the Men's U20 division, sent shock waves in the track and field world.

However, he was stripped of his world record after the four-year ban was imposed on him on May 27, 2024. In a detailed press release, the Athletics Integrity Unit revealed that Issam Asinga had contended his positive drug test after being provisionally suspended in August 2023. He alleged that the drug test turned out to be positive due to “recovery gummies” that he had consumed after the victory ceremony of the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field event on July 10, 2023.

Asinga had provided the Integrity Unit with two sealed containers of the 'Gatorade Recovery Gummies' that he claimed he had taken. On testing, the recovery gummies showed the presence of GW1516 and GW1516 sulfoxide. However, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit, Issam Asinga was unable to satisfactorily prove that the source of the GW1516 metabolites detected in his sample was from the 'Gatorade Recovery Gummies'.

Issam Asinga gets a four-year ban for anti-doping violations

The Athletics Integrity Unit concluded that Issam Asinga had breached the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules (ADR 2.1) that deals with “Presence of a Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in an Athlete’s Sample.” Asinga has tested positive for metabolites of GW1516 when his sample was collected on July 18, 2023.

GW1516 has been listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a hormone and metabolic modulator which is prohibited at all times. Since his sample was collected on July 18, 2023, all the events that he participated in and won would be deemed invalid. This includes his 100m U20 World record as well as the victory in the 200m in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the South American Championships 2023.

Issam Asinga took to Instagram and released a detailed statement about his four-year ban.

"The truth will prevail🙏🏾,"he captioned the post.

"Sadly, in 2023 while I was still a high school senior, Pepsico gave me a Gatorade gift package which contained Gatorade Recovery Gummies, displaying the industry-approved NSF Certified for Sport logo. The containers given to me were later tested at a WADA-accredited laboratory which identified that the product given to me was contaminated with GW1516, the same substance I tested positive for in trace amounts, " read an excerpt of his statement.

Moreover, Asinga mentioned that he would be appealing the decision to the Athletics Integrity unit.