Jamaican quarter-miler Bobby-Gaye Wilkins was suspended for two years (Apr. 9, 2010 to Apr. 8, 2012) by the JAAA (Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association) for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance at the 13th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar in March this year.
According to a report by KLAS Sports Radio in Kingston, Jamaica yesterday, The JAAA decided that an anti-doping violation occurred and suspended Wilkins from all competition. She, however, can appeal to the Court of Arbitration.
Wilkins, a former Holmwood Technical High School student who celebrates her 22nd birthday tomorrow, was a member of the Jamaican 4x4 relay team that finished third behind the USA and Russia in 3:28.46 in Doha. In the 400m semifinal, she finished 5th (52.59) and did not advance.
It is not yet known how this will affect the bronze medals of her team members: Clora Williams, Davita Prendergast and Novlene Williams-Mills.
Wilkins, a 400m and 800m specialist is no stranger to the international scene and has personal best 50.87 and 2.04.87 in these respective events. She was a member of the Jamaican Bronze 4x4 relay team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
As a schoolgirl in March 2005, Wilkins led Holmwood Tech to the Jamaica High School Championships title and was a sliver medalist in the Under-20 800m (2.12.98) at the Carifta Games in Bacolet, Tobago the next month. In July of 2005, at the 4th IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, 17-year-old Wilkins posted a time of 52.74 for 7th place in the 400m finals after running 54.07 in the earlier rounds.
The following year at the 2006 Carifta Games in Turks and Caicos, BWI she won the 400m (53.01) in the Under-20 category.
Wilkins is the Pan Am Junior holder for the 400m (51.72), which she established at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
At the 2008 Penn Relays, Bobby-Gaye anchored Holmwood Tech to victory in the 4x800m relay in the Championship of America race in 8.41.92. In the summer of 2008, Wilkins took the 400m at the North American Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships in Toluca Mexico.
Wilkins now lives in the US.