Team Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor to miss next Olympics after anti-doping ban

Team Jamaica 400m runner Christopher Taylor faces a 30-month ban for an anti-doping rules violation.

The Athletic Integrity Unit (AIU) issued the lengthy suspension to Taylor on Nov. 16 for a whereabouts violation. The star athlete gets credit for time served as one year of the ban has elapsed. However, it forces him to miss the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Christopher Taylor faced charges from the AIU issued earlier this year for violating WADA Anti-Doping Code Article 2.3. The provision states, “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection. The Evading Sample collection, or without compelling justification, refusing or failing to submit to Sample collection after notification as authorised in applicable anti-doping rules.”

Officials contacted Taylor in November 2022 about a random drug test. However, they discovered he was not at a listed location on his whereabouts form. Having not updated his information and facing a six-month investigation, the AIU determined he violated the above-mentioned code.

The last competition “Cubby” Taylor competed in was at the 2022 IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where he won a silver medal in the men’s 4×400 m relay. The previous year, he participated in his first summer games at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, running in the men’s 400m and the 4×400 m relay.

The former Calabar High School standout is a national champion in the men’s 400m. Additionally, the 24-year-old Spanish Town athlete is an NACAC champion and a former World Youth Champion.