Sprinter sues Gatorade over alleged contaminated 'recovery gummies' that led to doping ban
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Surinamese sprinter Issamade Asinga sued the Gatorade Company on Wednesday, alleging his recent doping ban was the result of eating contaminated 'recovery gummies' that the brand manufactured and provided.
Surinamese sprinter Issamade Asinga sued the Gatorade Company on Wednesday, alleging his recent doping ban was the result of eating contaminated "recovery gummies" that the brand manufactured and provided.
Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) handed the 19-year-old Asinga a four-year suspension for a doping violation in May, stripping his two South American Championship gold medals and his under-20 100 metres world record.
In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Asinga said Gatorade provided him the gummies a year ago with packaging that claimed they were "NSF Certified for Sport" and therefore free from banned substances.
The lawsuit said the gummies lacked the certification, and instead "had been made using shoddy manufacturing processes, and were contaminated with trace amounts of an illegal performance-enhancing drug."
NSF is an independent, Michigan-based non-governmental organization that certifies when products are free from substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Gatorade said in a statement provided to Reuters: "The product in question is completely safe and the claims made are false."
"Gatorade products are FDA compliant and safe for athlete consumption, which was validated by the findings of the Athletics Integrity Unit investigation," the beverage company said.
