Manila, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Justin Brownlee finds himself in a tough situation right after winning the gold medal for the Philippines in the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. After 61 years, the nationals finally became champions again, thanks to Brownlee’s heroic performance against China in the finals. However, this victory would be stomped by devastating news after Justin Brownlee reportedly failed the doping test by the Asian Games committee a day after the gold medal game. What’s next for Brownlee? Will Gilas Pilipinas be forced to surrender the gold medal?
What will happen to Justin Brownlee and Gilas Pilipinas’ Asiad gold medal?
According to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), they received the information from The International Testing Agency (ITA) on Thursday. The ITA revealed that Brownlee‘s results came back as positive with traces of Carboxy-THC, which is a strong indicator that a person is using cannabis (marijuana).
Anti-doping rule violation: The ITA reports that a sample collected from basketball player Justin Brownlee (Philippines) during the@19thAGofficial has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for a specified prohibited substance.
▶️ https://t.co/2urC0BJnAV#KeepingSportReal pic.twitter.com/yrgEz2IKFx
— International Testing Agency (@IntTestAgency) October 12, 2023
The next move for the Philippines’ Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is to make an appeal for Justin Brownlee’s case. According to SBP President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, they still have until October 19 to appeal or submit another sample for a different test. However, Tolentino did mention that Justin Brownlee had recent surgery.
“‘Yun na ang pinag-uusapan. ‘Yung sabi ng SBP na Brownlee is in medication before pa kaya ‘di nakalaro ng FIBA World Cup dahil injured, may medication siya. Doon tine-trace kung baka sa medication kung may component,” Tolentino said.
They are currently looking into it to see if the basketball star’s medication has any indication of Carboxy-THC. Gilas Pilipinas coach, Tim Cone, also confirmed this saying that Brownlee had to undergo the removal of bone spurs in his foot. The Barangay Ginebra’s fan-favorite import’s future is still unknown but he will surely be suspended, depending on the result of this case. That question now is, what happens to Gilas’ Asiad gold? Well, Tolentino is optimistic that their gold medal will not be tarnished. His reason is that basketball is a team sport, hence it’s not justifiable for the committee to take it away from the whole team.
“Atin pa rin ang gold,” he said. “I don’t think that the gold will be stripped from us because it’s (basketball) a team (sport).”
Athletes who have been stripped of medals in international tournaments (Asian Games, Olympics, etc) after testing positive in drug tests
There have been numerous athletes (and even teams) who have lost their hard-fought medals after failing the doping test mandated by the International Olympic Committee. Here are just some of the most recent incidents in the history of sports:
Sveva Melillo (Muay Thai), Madalyn Baxter (Lacrosse), and Francesca Parrello (Powerlifintg) in the Birmingham World Games 2022
Not one, not two, but three women tested positive for substance abuse in the recent World Games 2022 held in Birmingham, England. Italian Muay Thai fighter Sveva Melillo and Canadian lacrosse player Madalyn Baxter both failed the test for canrenone – which is a treatment of hirsutism in women – and were stripped of their medals. Melillo will lose her gold medal while Baxter must surrender her silver medal. Thankfully, other members of the Canadian lacrosse will not suffer the same punishment.
On the other hand, another Italian athlete, Francesca Parrello will also be stripped of her powerlifting gold medal after she was found out with traces of a steroid called Methandriol.
CJ Ujah and the British relay team Tokyo Olympics 2020
Team Great Britain did a great job in Tokyo after winning the silver medal in the 4x100m relay tournament. The quartet featured CJ Ujah, Richard Kilty, Zharnel Hughes, and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.
Great Britain won silver in the men's 4×100 at the Tokyo Olympics.
CJ Ujah tested positive for banned substances and was provisionally suspended for 4 years (reduced to 22 months).
GB was disqualified and lost their silver medal. pic.twitter.com/QW1FLjGAUA— Sean (@SJbrigante) October 17, 2022
However, Ujah was immediately tested and it was found that he tested positive for S-23 and Ostarine, substances that promote muscle growth and bone health. Britain was later disqualified and was forced to surrender their Olympic silver medal. Meanwhile, Ujah was suspended by the IOC for 22 months.
