Jamaican long jumper Carey McLeod has been suspended for two years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after accumulating three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period, a violation of anti-doping regulations that require athletes in the testing pool to provide accurate location information and be available for out-of-competition testing.
McLeod, who won bronze at the 2024 World Indoor Championships, accepted the sanction, which will keep him out of competition until May 28, 2028. The suspension still leaves him with a chance to return in time to pursue qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games.
The first violation occurred on June 30, 2025, when a doping control officer arrived at McLeod’s declared address in St Andrew, Jamaica, during his designated testing window between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The officer was unable to locate him, resulting in both a missed test and a filing failure. According to the AIU, McLeod did not provide an explanation for the incident.
A second filing failure was recorded on August 9, 2025. McLeod updated his whereabouts information to indicate that he would be in Budapest, Hungary, on August 10 and 11. However, his overnight location for August 9 remained listed as Arkansas, USA. He subsequently competed at the Gyulai Istvan Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix in Budapest on August 12 without updating his whereabouts records to reflect his presence in Hungary.
The third violation occurred on May 1, 2026, when another doping control officer was unable to locate McLeod at his declared address in Clarendon, Jamaica, during a testing slot between 6:35 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. No explanation was submitted before the deadline. Later, his attorney informed the AIU that McLeod would not contest the failure and requested that it be recorded so that the case could proceed without delay.
Under World Athletics anti-doping rules, three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period constitute an anti-doping rule violation, even in the absence of a positive drug test. The regulations are designed to ensure that elite athletes remain available for unannounced testing at all times.
The ban represents a significant setback for one of Jamaica’s leading field-event athletes, who had emerged as a medal contender on the global stage in recent years.