• Athletics

Gay returns prize money following drugs ban

ESPN staff
May 7, 2014
Tyson Gay was part of the USA team that won silver in the 4x100m at the 2012 Olympics © Getty Images
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Tyson Gay is attempting to rebuild his sullied reputation following a one-year drugs ban by repaying all prize money and appearance fees he received since he started using a banned substance in 2012.

Gay, who also returned the silver medal he won for the 4x100m at the 2012 Olympics, will repay a total of £300,000 to the promoters of five Diamond League meetings and an invitational race in Jamaica.

The Daily Telegraph reports that among the Diamond League races being reimbursed is the 2012 Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, where Gay finished second to Jamaican Nikel Ashmeade in the 200m.

Chairman of British Athletics Ed Warner said that Gay's agent, Mark Wetmore, had been in touch to arrange a repayment: "I can confirm the money is already on its way back from Gay's agent. They are aware their contract said the money was returnable if there was a doping violation but Mark Wetmore was on the case before we got on to it."

The other Diamond League meetings to be repaid are the 2012 Zurich Weltklasse, the 2012 and 2013 Athletissima in Lausanne and the 2013 Adidas Grand Prix in New York, while Gay's appearance fee for the 2013 Kingston Jamaica International Invitational will also be returned.

Gay received a one-year ban for using a prohibited anabolic steroid, which he claims was in a cream that he believed did not contain any banned substances. His ban has been back-dated to June 2013, meaning the American is free to compete again next month.

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