UKAD provisionally bans British sprinter Nigel Levine after clenbuterol positive

British sprinter Nigel Levine has been provisionally suspended after failing a drugs test for banned asthma drug clenbuterol last year, UK Athletics has confirmed.

The 28-year-old, an indoor and outdoor European 4×400 metre relay champion, had only just returned to training after a serious motorbike accident with teammate James Ellington last January.

In a statement, UK Athletics said: “The provisional suspension was issued by UK Anti-Doping and is in accordance with (world athletics’ governing body) IAAF anti-doping rules.

“The individual now has the opportunity to respond to the charge against him including the right to a full hearing of the case.”

Widely used to treat breathing problems, clenbuterol has also been abused by athletes and bodybuilders to burn fat and boost aerobic capacity, hence its place on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.

There have been numerous high-profile doping cases involving the drug over the last 30 years, with perhaps the most famous being Spanish cycling star Alberto Contador’s. The seven-time Grand Tour winner was eventually given a two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport despite the rider arguing his positive was caused by eating a contaminated steak.

While that argument did not work for him, it has been accepted as a valid excuse in several other cases, most notably when more than 100 footballers at the U17 World Cup in Mexico in 2011 were found to have eaten contaminated meat.

Levine, however, is understood to have been training primarily in the UK, where clenbuterol has not entered the food chain.

A three-time medallist at world-championship level, Levine suffered a broken pelvis when he and Ellington were hit by a car in Tenerife, with Ellington breaking his pelvis and fracturing a leg in two places.