Sprinter Issam Asinga suing Gatorade for positive drug test that banned him from 2024 Olympics

One year ago, Surinamese sprinter Issam Asinga appeared to be on top of the track and field world. However, with the Paris Olympics about to begin, the sprinter is on the outside looking in after being suspended for testing positive for a banned substance. As a result, he is suing Gatorade, reports The Washington Post.

This past May, Asinga received a four-year ban from competition for testing positive for GW1516. He originally tested for the substance in August 2023 and was issued a "notice of allegation" by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

In April 2023, Asinga — then in high school — beat Olympian Noah Lyles in a 100 meters race in Florida, finishing in a wind-aided 9.83 seconds. He went on to break the national high school record in the 200 meters, finishing at 19.97 seconds. That surpassed Lyles' record of 20.09, set in 2016.

The 20-year-old intended to compete in the 2024 Olympics for Suriname, his father's home country. (Tommy Asinga was an All-American at Eastern Michigan, competed in three Olympics and was Suriname's flag bearer at the 1996 Games.)

Asinga filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, claiming that recovery gummies that he received from Gatorade after he sent the under-20 world record in the 100 meters contained the GW1516 for which he tested positive and was subsequently banned. The lawsuit also claims that Gatorade (and parent company Pepsi Co.) smeared Asinga's character while trying to protect its own reputation, according to The Washington Post.

In the lawsuit, Asinga is seeking to "recoup the millions of dollars he has lost in economic opportunities, as well as compensation for the devastating emotional harm he has suffered."

Had Asinga been allowed to compete for Suriname, he could have earned millions of dollars in a sponsorship deal. Additionally, Asinga fears he could lose his scholarship at Texas A&M, where he competed as a freshman but is now not allowed to train with coaches at the school.

Asinga received the gummies as part of a gift basket when the company named him its 2023 Florida boys track and field athlete of the year. The product said it was "NSF Certified for Sport." Asinga's mother messaged his coach with a photo of the ingredient label, asking if her son could take the gummies, according to the lawsuit. The coach allegedly said they were fine, responding, "Gatorade doesn't make products that are against sporting rules."

A drug test Asinga took one week after the Gatorade ceremony, on July 18, 2023, turned up positive for GW1516, a dietary supplement. In the lawsuit, Asinga said he stopped taking the gummies "on or around" July 25 and a July 28 drug test was clean.

Following the positive test, Asinga and his lawyer sent several products, including the gummies, to a lab for testing. The lab found that the gummies were contaminated with GW1516. The gummies have since been discontinued by Gatorade.

The company is arguing that what Asinga sent for testing was not a sealed, unused container. Gatorade sent a sealed container to the AIU and the product tested clean. Asinga was then suspended.

"You’re either guilty or you’re not," Asinga told the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore. "I know I’m not, so I’ve got to chase my dream. I’ve got two Olympian parents, I was born to run. Am I going to destroy my dream because of something I didn’t do, or am I going to keep fighting until the end?"