Latest news with #IssamAsinga
Toronto Sun
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
Suspended sprinter's lawsuit against Gatorade over gummies is dismissed
He received a four-year doping ban after he alleged the company gave him contaminated gummies at an awards banquet Published Apr 30, 2025 • 3 minute read Issam Asinga, a track and field competitor, is introduced at the annual awards for high school athletes, on July 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. Photo by Damian Dovarganes / AP A New York judge dismissed Issam Asinga's lawsuit against Gatorade, in which the suspended sprinter alleged the company gave him contaminated gummies at an awards banquet and withheld evidence that could have exonerated him before he received a four-year doping ban. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In siding with Gatorade's motion to dismiss Monday, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel did not make a judgment on the suit's claims. She wrote that Asinga could not sue for liability because he did not suffer a physical injury and that he did not qualify for consumer protection because he did not purchase the gummies. 'The Court understands how unsatisfying this decision will be for Plaintiff,' Seibel wrote in the Southern District of New York. 'Taking the allegations in the Amended Complaint as true, he will … be deprived of his athletic career for four years through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, the causes of action he has asserted are not the right fit for the circumstances.' Asinga can appeal the dismissal. His lawyer, Alexis Chardon, said the 20-year-old strongly disagrees with Seibel's decision and is weighing his options. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. '[The] decision holds that a young man may be deprived of his athletic career through no fault of his own and be left without even an opportunity to prove his claim against the multinational corporation which he believes carelessly harmed him,' Chardon said. Asinga sued Gatorade in July, alleging the company gave him 'recovery gummies' at an event honuoring him as the high school track and field athlete of the year that were tainted with cardarine, a banned fat metabolizer that has been found to cause cancer in lab animals. After Asinga tested positive, he sent the gummies to a lab that found the gummies contained traces of cardarine. The container, according to internal Gatorade emails included in Asinga's lawsuit, had been incorrectly labeled certified. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When Asinga asked Gatorade for another container of gummies from the same lot to be tested, the company told him it could not find one. It instead sent a container from the same 'batch' to be tested, according to the lawsuit. When those gummies tested negative for cardarine, the Athletics Integrity Unit, global track and field's anti-doping agency, handed Asinga a four-year ban that cost him two under-20 world records, a chance to compete for Suriname at the Paris Olympics and his athletic scholarship to Texas A&M. Gatorade filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January. It won that motion Monday. 'For over 60 years Gatorade has provided athletes products that are safe for consumption and backed by science,' the company said in a statement Tuesday. 'We are pleased by the Court's decision to dismiss the case as there was no merit or evidence to support the claims asserted.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It is important to note that the opinion does not hold that Issam inadequately alleged that the mislabeled Gatorade gummies were contaminated with an illegal substance or that they caused him to fail an anti-doping test and lose his career,' Chardon said. 'Instead, the court held that Issam has no way to access justice even if that is so. We think the decision is wrong.' Asinga remains banned from competition. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has yet to rule on his appeal. In March, Asinga's high school coach at Montverde Academy, Gerald Phiri, was suspended by the AIU following an investigation performed alongside the U.S. Anti-Doping agency. The AIU alleged that two other athletes Phiri coached also tested positive for cardarine and that he possessed cardarine as an athlete in 2018 and 2019 as well as meldonium, another banned metabolism drug, in 2024. From the onset of his case, Asinga has remained steadfast that he never knowingly ingested performance-enhancing drugs. 'I have full faith in Issam and that he's innocent,' Chardon said. '… We're still fighting.' Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.
New Straits Times
29-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
PepsiCo's Gatorade defeats banned sprinter's lawsuit over 'recovery gummies'
NEW YORK: PepsiCo's Gatorade unit yesterday won the dismissal of a lawsuit by former world champion sprinter Issam Asinga, who blamed his four-year doping ban on eating "recovery gummies" contaminated by a performance-enhancing drug. US District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains, New York, said Asinga, who is from Suriname, could not pursue strict liability and negligence claims because he did not allege that eating the gummies caused physical injury. She also found no proof that Gatorade intentionally caused him to ingest a banned substance, thereby undermining his athletic scholarship from Texas A&M University and agreement to abide by world anti-doping rules. "The court understands how unsatisfying this decision will be" for Asinga, if he were "deprived of his athletic career for four years through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, the causes of action he has asserted are not the right fit for the circumstances." Ali Chardon, a lawyer for Asinga, in an email said the decision left her client with "no way to access justice" for losing his track career. "We think the decision is wrong, and are evaluating next steps," Chardon added. PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, and Gatorade lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees track and field's anti-doping program, suspended Asinga last May, stripping him of two South American Championship gold medals and his under-20 100 meters record time of 9.89 seconds. Asinga, now 20, also beat American world champion Noah Lyles at 100 meters in a wind-aided 9.83 seconds. In his lawsuit, Asinga said Gatorade gave him gummies tainted by the drug cardarine when he traveled to Los Angeles in July 2023 to accept the company's National Player of the Year Award. He said the AIU panel banned him because he could not provide proof of contamination from a sealed bottle of gummies with the same lot number. Asinga also said Gatorade falsely claimed that the gummies were "certified for sport" by NSF, an independent Michigan-based nongovernmental organization that certifies when products are free from substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Reuters
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
PepsiCo's Gatorade defeats banned sprinter's lawsuit over 'recovery gummies'
NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - PepsiCo's (PEP.O), opens new tab Gatorade unit on Monday won the dismissal of a lawsuit by former world champion sprinter Issam Asinga, who blamed his four-year doping ban on eating "recovery gummies" contaminated by a performance-enhancing drug. U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains, New York, said Asinga, who is from Suriname, could not pursue strict liability and negligence claims because he did not allege that eating the gummies caused physical injury. She also found no proof that Gatorade intentionally caused him to ingest a banned substance, thereby undermining his athletic scholarship from Texas A&M University and agreement to abide by world anti-doping rules. "The court understands how unsatisfying this decision will be" for Asinga, if he were "deprived of his athletic career for four years through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, the causes of action he has asserted are not the right fit for the circumstances." Ali Chardon, a lawyer for Asinga, in an email said the decision left her client with "no way to access justice" for losing his track career. "We think the decision is wrong, and are evaluating next steps," Chardon added. PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, and Gatorade lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees track and field's anti-doping program, suspended Asinga last May, stripping him of two South American Championship gold medals and his under-20 100 meters record time of 9.89 seconds. Asinga, now 20, also beat American world champion Noah Lyles at 100 meters in a wind-aided 9.83 seconds. In his lawsuit, Asinga said Gatorade gave him gummies tainted by the drug cardarine when he traveled to Los Angeles in July 2023 to accept the company's National Player of the Year Award. He said the AIU panel banned him because he could not provide proof of contamination from a sealed bottle of gummies with the same lot number. Asinga also said Gatorade falsely claimed that the gummies were "certified for sport" by NSF, an independent Michigan-based nongovernmental organization that certifies when products are free from substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The case is Asinga v Gatorade Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-05210.
